Irving Wallace Irving Wallace ( March 19 , 1916 – June 29 , 1990 ) was an American best - selling author and screenwriter . Wallace was known for his heavily researched novels , many with a sexual theme . One critic described him " as the most successful of all the many exponents of junk fiction perhaps because he took it all so seriously , not to say lugubriously " . Wallace was a blue - collar writer who wrote for a blue - collar audience . Most critics were scornful of his novels ' flat prose and pedestrian characters . Life . Wallace was born in Chicago , Illinois to Bessie Liss and Alexander Wallace ( an Americanized version of the original family name of Wallechinsky ) . The family was Jewish and originally from Russia . Wallace was named after his maternal grandfather , a bookkeeper and Talmudic scholar of Narewka . Wallace grew up in Kenosha , Wisconsin , where he attended Kenosha Central High School . He was the father of Olympic historian David Wallechinsky and author Amy Wallace . Wallace began selling stories to magazines when he was a teenager . In the Second World War Wallace served in the Frank Capra unit in Fort Fox along with Theodor Seuss Geisel – better known as Dr Seuss – and continued to write for magazines . He also served in the First Motion Picture Unit of the Army Air Force . Soon , however , Wallace turned to a more lucrative job as a Hollywood screenwriter . He collaborated on such films as " The West Point Story " ( 1950 ) , " Split Second " ( 1953 ) , " Meet Me at the Fair " ( 1953 ) , and " The Big Circus " ( 1959 ) . He also contributed at least one script to the western television program " Have Gun , Will Travel " . After an unsatisfying stint in Hollywood , he devoted himself full - time to writing books . He published his first non - fiction work in 1955 , " The Fabulous Originals " , and his first fiction offering , " The Sins of Philip Fleming " , in 1959 . The latter , ignored by critics , was followed by the enormously successful " The Chapman Report " . Wallace published 33 books during his lifetime , translated into 31 languages . Irving Wallace was married to Sylvia Wallace , a former magazine writer and editor . Her first novel , " The Fountains " , was an American best - seller and published in twelve foreign editions . Her second novel , " Empress " , was published in 1980 . She also helped him to produce , along with their two children , " The Book of Lists # 2 " and " The Intimate Sex Lives Of Famous People " . In her autobiography , Amy Wallace wrote that her mother ' s contributions were not always helpful and the atmosphere not always harmonious . Sylvia Wallace died October 20 , 2006 at the age of 89 . Several of Wallace ' s books have been made into films . Among his best known books are " The Chapman Report " ( 1960 ) , " The Prize " ( 1962 ) , " The Word " ( 1972 ) and " The Fan Club " ( 1974 ) . " The " . Idiosyncratically , Wallace always used the definite article in the titles of his novels , including " The Man " , his most political and controversial novel . Non - fiction . Wallace loved and championed the underdog . He enjoyed writing the stories of outsiders , which interest saw light in " The Square Pegs : Some Americans Who Dared to Be Different " . With his son , daughter and wife he produced some notable non - fiction works , including three editions each of " The People ' s Almanac " ( with son David ) and " The Book of Lists " ( with David and Amy and wife Sylvia for the second volume ) . Many of the odd facts Wallace uncovered he also used in his novels . In 1976 , he placed an advertisement in " The Times " for " Listomaniacs wanted – Are you interested in the odd and the curious ? If so , we ' d love to hear from you " . The plea was seen by musician Dave Arthur , the husband of Toni Arthur , the " Playschool " presenter . He told his friend Jeremy Beadle who sent off some suggestions among them " Twenty Great Events that Happened in the Bathtub " and " People who Died on the Toilet " . He received a phone call from Rosalind Toland , who had been appointed the London editor of what was to be " The Book of Lists " . She gave Beadle Wallace ' s telephone number and Beadle spoke to Wallace and Wallechinsky for some hours . He said of the thousands of respondents they had received , Beadle ' s ideas were the most outstanding . Beadle later became London editor of " The People ' s Almanac # 2 " ( 1978 ) .