I’m also in the group that didn’t know who Scott Turow was until Googling. However, I knew Rainn Wilson immediately,and recognized the “do not be idiots” quote, although I would have preferred to see him start the speech by slamming his fists on the podium and shouting “blood alone moves the wheels of history.”
The most popular seasons of The Office had ~10 million live US viewers per episode. When you consider worldwide viewership, syndication which is still active today, 200+ episodes over 9 years, … I’m sure many times more than the live US viewership are familiar with the main characters from The Office, especially one as memorable as Dwight Schrute . Some also know Rainn from other TV shows or movies, including some in which he was the lead character. In contrast, it’s my understanding that Turow’s popularity peaked in the 80s and 90s. Younger persons are likely not as familiar with his books. I see that Turrow’s books only have a few hundred reviews on Amazon, while books that inspired popular recent TV shows often have 10k+. Of the 4 alumni, Turow has by far the least Internet presence.