David Wallechinsky
| David Wallechinsky | |
|---|---|
| Born |
David Wallace February 5, 1948 Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Residence | Los Angeles and France |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Palisades High School |
| Occupation | Author Television commentator Populist historian |
| Known for | The People's Almanac, The Book of Lists, The Complete Book of the Olympics |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Flora Chavez |
| Children | Elijah Chavez Wallechinsky Aaron Chavez Wallechinsky |
| Parent(s) |
Irving Wallace Sylvia Kahn |
| Relatives | Amy Wallace (sister) |
| Website | www.allgov.com |
David Wallechinsky (born February 5, 1948) is an American populist historian and television commentator, the president of the International Society of Olympic Historians (ISOH) and the founder and editor-in-chief of AllGov.com.
David Wallechinsky was born David Wallace in Los Angeles to a Jewish family, the son of writer Sylvia Kahn and the author and screenwriter Irving Wallace. His younger sister was fellow author Amy Wallace, a "witch" of Carlos Castaneda who co-wrote many books with him and their father and authored Sorcerer's Apprentice: My Life with Carlos Castaneda in 2003.
One day, after he got off an airplane in Britain, the customs officer looked at his passport and remarked, "Ah Wallace, a good Scottish boy coming home." Disquieted, back in the States he discovered that the original family name was Wallechinsky and he adopted that moniker. He was educated at Palisades High School in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California, graduating in 1965. One of his classmates was future film critic and talk radio host Michael Medved, and they later wrote What Really Happened to the Class of '65, a series of interviews with their former classmates. Alone, Wallechinsky went back to his school year and wrote a similar book Midterm Report: The Class of '65: Chronicles of an American Generation about pupils from across America who left high school in that year.
In 1973, Wallechinsky became fed up with almanacs that regurgitated bare facts. He had the idea for a reference book to be read for pleasure; a book that would tell the often untold true tales of history. He worked alone for 12 months before being joined by his father for a further year of research. The People's Almanac was published by Doubleday in 1975 and became a best-seller. One of the most popular chapters was a selection of lists and, joined by his father and sister, Wallechinsky wrote The Book of Lists, which became an international best-seller. Both books spawned not only follow-up editions but innumerable copy titles such as The Ethnic Almanac, The Jewish Almanac, The Book Of TV Lists, The Book Of Sex Lists, etc.
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