William Novak is best known to Jew­ish audi­ences as the co-edi­tor of The Big Book of Jew­ish Humor, a beloved col­lec­tion of jokes, car­toons, and sto­ries that is still in print 35 years after its 1981 release. Novak is also a suc­cess­ful ghost­writer who has served as the co-author of the best-sell­ing mem­oirs of Lee Iacoc­ca, Tip O’Neill, Nan­cy Rea­gan, Oliv­er North, Mag­ic John­son, Tim Russert, and Natan Sharansky.