Heritage Florida Jewish News - Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice

(JTA) - Perhaps the greatest influence on Al Jaffee, known to readers of Mad Magazine as the creator of the "Fold-In," was the time he spent living in a Lithuanian shtetl as a child.

Jaffee had been born in Savannah, Georgia, but returned to his mother's native country with her after she became disillusioned by the irreligious character of life in America. Living in her small town, Zarasai, from ages 6 to 12, he became steeped in both the Yiddish and the "anti-adultism" that would infuse his work. He also gained fluency in comics through strips mailed by father, who remained in the United S...