Short answers, pulled from the story.
Earl Strom was born on the 15th of December 1927 in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. He grew up as the youngest of seven children in a kosher household with parents Max and Bessie who were Orthodox Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants from Austria-Hungary.
Earl Strom officiated the seventh game of the Eastern Conference finals between the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers despite having broken his hand punching a fan the night before. His signature whistle technique involved a specific tune described as tweet-pause-tweet-tweet while he pointed directly at offending players.
Earl Strom joined the American Basketball Association after accepting a contract offer over eighty-two games for sixteen thousand dollars due to the lack of pension plans or family hospitalization in the NBA. He received demands for twenty-five thousand dollars per year plus health insurance but soon became disenchanted with the lack of big name superstars and arenas compared to the NBA.
Earl Strom stayed out of the 1977 NBA Playoffs strike alongside Richie Powers because he honored his contract which remained valid through the season. During the strike he officiated a playoff game between Portland Trail Blazers and Denver Nuggets in Denver where he received a death threat phoned into McNichols Arena at halftime.
Earl Strom died on the 10th of July 1994 after surgery began in January 1994 failed to overcome cancer effects from a malignant brain tumor. His final game occurred on the 12th of June 1990 as Game 4 of the NBA Finals between Detroit Pistons and Portland Trail Blazers.