David Wallechinsky
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(photo by Norman Seeff)
Born: February 5, 1948
Hollywood, California
Published books include:
The Flying Boy of Calhoun County, Tennessee: A Tale from the Fringe of Reality
Tyrants: The World’s 20 Worst Living Dictators
David Wallechinsky’s 20th Century: History with the Boring Parts Left Out
The Complete Book of the Summer Olympics (with Jaime Loucky)
The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics (with Jaime Loucky)
The Book of Olympic Lists
The People’s Almanac 1, 2, 3 (with Irving Wallace)
The New Book of Lists (with Amy Wallace)
What Really Happened to the Class of ‘65? (with Michael Medved)
Midterm Report: The Class of ‘65
The Intimate Sex Lives of Famous People (with Irving Wallace and Amy Wallace)
Web Sites
Speeches
Mass Media, Democracy and Sport (International Olympic Academy)
History of Politics and the Olympics (International Peace and Sport Forum-Special Session)
Keynote Address--Trivia Championships of North America
Panel Discussion on Athletes as Role Models (International Olympic Academy)
Interviews
David Wallechinsky is a Human Encyclopedia (Vice)
How David Wallechinsky Created Listicles and Redefined the Trivia Environment (Trivia Hall of Fame)
David Wallechinsky's Books on the Summer and Winter Olympics are Pure Gold (by Mike Rowbottom, Inside the Rings)
David Wallechinsky Gives His Answers to Readers’ Questions (Part I) (New York Times)
He Wrote the Book: Wallechinsky’s Book is Everywhere, and So is He (by Richard Deitsch, Sports Illustrated)
The Editor Who Puts Dictators In Their Places (by Mark Leibovich, Washington Post)
Ten Biggest Blunders in Olympic History (by Monte Burke, Forbes)
Television Interviews
Eye to Eye with Katie Couric
PBS Newshour on Luge Death at Winter Olympics
Dictator Robert Mugabe Resigns (CTV)
The 2022 Beijing Olympics (CTV)
Radio Interviews
Creation of New U.S. Clandestine Service (The Voice of Russia)
Why We Love Lists (American Public Media-The Dinner Party) (start at 1:40)
The Man and Irving Wallace (NPR-Here and Now) (start at 4:50)
The Most Memorable Olympic Heroes of All Time (The Takeaway-WNYC)
The Crossroads of Diplomacy and Sport (NPR All Things Considered)
Bound for Glory (NPR On the Media)
Poor Olympic Planning and Rio Olympics (BBC-Radio)
Books made into television series:
What Really Happened to the Class of ‘65?—NBC
The Book of Lists—CBS
Positions:
Former President and current member of Executive Board of the International Society of Olympic Historians
Contributor, The Huffington Post
Miscellaneous credits:
Recipient, Olympic Order of the International Olympic Committee
Recipient of Honorary Doctorates from the National University of Ukraine for Physical Education and Sport and from the United States Sports Academy and Honored Professorship from the Armenian State Institute of Physical Culture
Inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Olympic Journalists Association
Inducted into the Trivia Hall of Fame
Television and radio commentator for Olympic Games of 1988-2018
Guest on television shows as diverse as Eye to Eye with Katie Couric, The O’Reilly Factor, ABC World News, The Glenn Beck Program, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer and CNN’s The Situation Room
Contributor, World Book Encyclopedia
Lecturer on: The World’s Worst Living Dictators and American Democracy, Is it Time for an Upgrade?
Unusual travels:
First Westerner in more than 50 years to visit tribal villages in “forbidden zones” of western
Yunnan Province in China
Interrogated by KGB during 10,000-mile train ride from Hong Kong to Portugal
Visited North Korea
Visited Albania immediately after the fall of Communism, Bhutan before the introduction of down sleeping bags; also visited Cambodia when Americans were forbidden to go there, Cook Islands, Western Samoa, Andorra, San Marino, Central African Republic and all 50 of the United States
Miscellaneous facts:
Personal library of 35,000 volumes including sections on Odd Titles, Curious Histories and Esoteric Studies, and Poetry by Famous Non-Poets
If I Were President Inaugural Address