Born to a Jewish family of Romanian descent , and raised in Los Angeles , he graduated '' cum laude '' from UCLA . His Romanian-born grandmother from Botoşani survived the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in March 1911 . During college , Siegel worked to register black voters in Georgia during the Civil Rights Movement , and he spoke frequently of having met Martin Luther King Jr . He also worked as a joke writer for Senator Robert F. Kennedy and was at the Ambassador Hotel the night the senator was assassinated . According to some reports , he also led student opposition to the construction of a football stadium on campus
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire
Joel Siegel