In 2002, it was reported that Ambrose had copied others' work and added them to his own writings (plagiarism). Ambrose denied these claims.[1]
Ambrose was born in Lovington, Illinois. He grew up in Whitewater, Wisconsin. He married Judith Dorlester in 1957, and had two children with her. After Dorlester's death in 1965, he married Moira Buckley in 1967. He adopted her three children.