I.A.L. Diamond(1920-1988)

One story often told says I.A.L. stood for Interscholastic Algebra League because Diamond was a tri-state winner when he was in high school. Another says that he chose the three initials when the editors of the Columbia humor magazine, The Jester insisted he write under the name Ian because his Anglicized name 'Isidore' was too Jewish-sounding. Iz was always his nickname. Izzy was something he was called by people who did not know him well.

[interviewed in 1982]: I think we are dealing with an audience that is almost functionally illiterate, that has grown up on television and comic books. According to a survey I read, a kid of eighteen will have seen some 30,000 hours of television. He has seen 700 movies. There's no indication as to how many books he's read, but I'd guess about one-and-a-half.