Richard Burton Matheson (February 20, 1926 – June 23, 2013) was an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres. He is perhaps best known as the author of What Dreams May Come, Somewhere In Time and I Am Legend, all three of which have been adapted as major motion pictures, as well as several The Twilight Zone television show episodes.
Richard's 1956 Shock 1 anthology short story of the same name is the inspiration of "The Splendid Source".
The Amazon.com description is as follows:
The Splendid Source prepares us for the stories to come; this somewhat facetious tale leads us in search of the source of the world's dirty jokes; as the protagonist declaims, the same jokes appear everywhere, but no one knows who originated them.