Who Was Joe Shapiro (Trump's SAT-Taker)?

In Mary Trump's book, there is a claim that Donald Trump hired a friend to impersonate him and take his SAT exam to give him a better chance at transferring from Fordham University to the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

To hedge his bets he enlisted Joe Shapiro, a smart kid with a reputation for being a good test taker to take his SATs for him. That was much easier to pull on in the days before photo IDs and computerized records. Donald, who never lacked for funds, paid his buddy well.

Trump has not spoken publicly about this, but a White House statement called the claim "completely false". But because Trump has fought to keep his high school and college grades more of a secret than his tax returns, it is undoubtedly true.

Who is/was Joe Shapiro? He is described as "a college friend" of Trump's and quoted in a New York Magazine article, dated November 17, 1980.

ABC News reports that Joe Shapiro was an attorney and a former executive at the Walt Disney Co.. He died in September 1999 of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

He was married to Pam Shriver, the former professional tennis player. Based on what her late husband told her more than 20 years ago, Shriver believes Mary Trump's allegation is false.

My late husband Joe Shapiro passed away 21 years ago. He was a man of great integrity, honesty; he was a hard worker. He was literally the smartest person I ever met. ... He went to University of Pennsylvania, member of the class of 1968. It was while he was at University of Pennsylvania where he met Donald Trump. They became friends; they loved the sport of golf. ... [O]bviously Joe's not here to defend himself and say what happened, but I just want to recollect what he told me about where he met Mr. Trump.

Mary Trump stands by her claim, stating she was "told this by people in my family. I am absolutely confident that it's true." She says the Joe Shapiro who was married to Pam Shriver is not the right guy.

It was not the Joe Shapiro that people have been focusing on. I feel terrible that [Shriver has] been subjected to this. ... I'm counting on people I trust who told me this story. So, in terms of documentation, no, I can't prove it. But I can certainly say with 100% certainty that I was told this story by a source very close to Donald.

Peter Ticktin, a classmate of Trump's at the New York Military Academy, told the Palm Beach Post it would have been impossible for someone to have taken Trump's SAT exam because NYMA was "a school where everybody knew everybody".

Ticktin admits he does not recall seeing Trump when his class took the SAT. "There was no reason to remember him being there," he says. Later in his interview, Ticktin insists: "I know he was there. I know he took the SAT. I know he had to have been in that room." Uh-huh.

Also, Mary Trump says the test came when Trump was already at Fordham and looking to transfer.