David "Dave" Barry (born July 3, 1947) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author and columnist, who wrote a nationally syndicated humor column for the The Miami Herald from 1983 to 2005. He has also written numerous books of humor and parody, as well as comedic novels.
Easton Press Dave Barry books
Dave Barry's History of the Millenium (So Far) - signed first edition - 2007
I'll Mature When I'm Dead - signed first edition - 2010
Insane City - signed first edition - 2013
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Who is Dave Barry?
Barry was born in Armonk, New York, where his father, David Barry, Sr., was a Presbyterian minister. He was educated at Pleasantville High School, where he was elected class clown in 1965, and at Haverford College, where he played in Federal Duck (a student rock band) and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1969. As the son of a minister and an alumnus of a Quaker-affiliated college, Barry avoided military service during the Vietnam War by registering as a religious conscientious objector even though, as he declared in a 2001 interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, he had decided he "was an atheist early on."His journalism career began as a reporter with the Daily Local News, in West Chester, Pennsylvania, where he "covered a series of incredibly dull municipal meetings, some of which are still going on." In 1975, Barry joined Burger Associates, a consulting firm. He taught effective writing to business people. In his own words, he "spent nearly eight years trying to get his students to stop writing things like `Enclosed please find the enclosed enclosures,' but... eventually realized that it was hopeless." In 1983, Barry started working as a humor columnist for the Miami Herald. 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."
For a 1992 American Booksellers Association convention, several authors including Barry formed a band for charity: The Rock Bottom Remainders ("remainder" being a publishing term for a book that doesn't sell). The members of the band, which has at various times included Stephen King, Amy Tan, Ridley Pearson, Mitch Albom, Kathy Goldmark, Roy Blount Jr., Barbara Kingsolver, and Matt Groening, "are not musically skilled, but they are extremely loud," according to Barry. The band's road tour resulted in the book Mid-Life Confidential: The Rock Bottom Remainders Tour America with Three Chords and an Attitude, which is now out of print.
CBS broadcast the situation comedy Dave's World for four seasons, from 1993 to 1997, based on the books Dave Barry Turns 40 and Dave Barry's Greatest Hits, starring Harry Anderson as Barry, and DeLane Matthews as his wife, Beth. In an early episode, Barry was cast in a cameo role. The program was canceled shortly after being moved from Monday to the Friday night death slot.
Barry's first novel, Big Trouble, was made into a motion picture, directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, starring Tim Allen, Rene Russo and Patrick Warburton, with a cameo by Barry. The movie was originally due for release in late 2001, but was postponed shortly after the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack because the story involved smuggling a nuclear weapon onto an airplane.
Barry and his wife, Beth, welcomed a son, Rob, in 1980. The Barrys divorced in the mid-1990s. In 1996, Barry married Miami Herald sportswriter Michelle Kaufman; they had a daughter, Sophie, in 2000. All are mentioned regularly in Barry's columns. (Barry's initial meeting and courtship with Michelle are dramatized in an epilogue to his novel Dave Barry in Cyberspace, but with names changed: Barry is cast as 'RayAdverb' (an anagram of 'Dave Barry'), and Michelle is represented as 'MsPtato'.)
Barry once picked up his son Rob from Junior High School while driving the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile.
Articles written by Barry have appeared in publications such as Boating, Home Office Computing and Reader's Digest.
When distinguishing fact from hyperbole, Barry frequently asserts: "I swear I am not making this up." Among his favorite topics are exploding or flaming items (cows, whales, vacuum cleaners, toilets, pop tarts, Barbie dolls, etc.), dogs' lacking intelligence, and amusing government studies. Barry also has libertarian political leanings. He labels various posts on his blog with long abbreviations, such as OIYDWYMTTY(NY)G ("Or If You Don't Want Your Mother To Think You're (Not Your) Gay") and wbagnfarb ("would be a great name for a rock band", an observation Barry often applies to phrases which pop up in his writing, such as "Italic Squirrels"), no doubt poking fun at unnecessarily long internet abbreviations.
Dave Barry quotes
"Never under any circumstances take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night."
"Your hand and your mouth agreed many years ago that, as far as chocolate is concerned, there is no need to involve your brain."
"If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be 'meetings.'"
"You can only be young once. But you can always be immature."
"The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status, or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we all believe that we are above-average drivers."
"The four building blocks of the universe are fire, water, gravel, and vinyl."
"We journalists make it a point to know very little about an extremely wide variety of topics; this is how we stay objective."
"It is a well-documented fact that guys will not ask for directions. This is a biological thing. This is why it takes several million sperm cells... to locate a female egg, despite the fact that the egg is, relative to them, the size of Wisconsin."
"There is a very fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness."
Source and additional information: Dave Barry