Sometimes you have to seek out humor when it is simply not that close by.
As Norman Rockwell is to oil painting, Dave Barry is to the laptop. Consistently cited as the Country’s most well known humorist he can take the most rehashed story and make it into comedic gold. Starting out In 1981 he wrote a humorous guest column in the Philadelphia Inquirer which attracted the attention of Gene Weingarten, then an editor at Tropic, the Sunday magazine of the Miami Herald.
In 1983, Barry was hired by Weingarten as a humor columnist. Barry won a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1988, “for his consistently effective use of humor as a device for presenting fresh insights into serious concerns.” His more insightful columns included commentary on the passing of his parents and his take on the history of Hiroshima.
In 1992, several authors including Barry formed a band for charity called The Rock Bottom Remainders. (“Remainder” is a publishing term for a book that doesn’t sell !). The members of the motley crew rock band at various times included Stephen King, Amy Tan, Mitch Albom, Kathy Goldmark, Matt Groening and Roy Blount Jr. Barry wisely stated the band was “not musically skilled, but are extremely loud.” They performed intermittently though 2012 when they chose to disband.
At the end of 2005 Barry told Editor and Publisher that he would not resume his weekly column, although he would continue such features as his yearly gift guide, year in review, his weblog, as well as an occasional article or column. This year in July he will turn a very young 66.
If you know someone who needs to laugh consider gifting them a Barry e-book from Amazon.
Even his archived older articles are worth a second look (and third look). Instead of lining the birdcage one smart editor convinced him to turn them into a book. The rest is history. See here what he thinks here about the roles of husbands and wives and when to go the extra mile.
By the way Manilow nation, Barry will be in Manchester, NH in May 2013!
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“If a man truly loves a woman, he will do anything for her. He will attempt to unclog a toilet. He will kill a spider armed only with a magazine. (I mean the man is armed with the magazine; the spider is usually unarmed.) He will leave the woman sleeping comfortably in bed at 5:37 a.m. while he takes the dog out and stands around shivering while the dog, which only seconds earlier was DESPERATE to get out, conducts a meticulous 20-minute inch-by-inch nasal survey of the entire yard before selecting precisely the right spot upon which to make weewee.
Yes, love will make a man do many things. But sometimes a man’s love is sorely tested by a woman. Here I am using the term “a woman” in the sense of “my wife.” Recently, out of the blue, she asked me to do something that was truly repugnant to me, something that violates one of the two fundamental moral principles by which I have lived my life (the other one is, never drink light beer).
She asked me to go to a Barry Manilow concert.”