Dave Barry | |
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 Barry at the 2011Washington Post Hunt | |
| Born | David McAlister Barry (1947-07-03)July 3, 1947 (age 78) Armonk, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Humorist Author |
| Alma mater | Haverford College (BA) |
| Spouse | Ann Shelnutt (1969–19?)[1] |
| Children | 2 |
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| davebarry | |
David McAlister Barry (born July 3, 1947) is an American author and columnist who wrote a nationallysyndicated humor column for theMiami Herald from 1983 to 2005. He has written numerous books of humor andparody, as well ascomic novels andchildren's novels. Barry's honors include thePulitzer Prize for Commentary (1988) and theWalter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism (2005).
Barry has defined a sense of humor as "a measurement of the extent to which we realize that we are trapped in a world almost totally devoid of reason. Laughter is how we express the anxiety we feel at this knowledge".[2]
Barry was born inArmonk, New York, where his father, David W. Barry, was aPresbyterian minister. He was educated at Wampus Elementary School, Harold C. Crittenden Junior High School (both in Armonk), andPleasantville High School, where he was elected "Class Clown" in 1965. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in English fromHaverford College in 1969.[3]
As an alumnus of aQuaker-affiliated college, heavoided military service during theVietnam War by registering as a religiousconscientious objector.[4] Barry decided "early on" that he was anatheist.[5] He said, "The problem with writing about religion is that you run the risk of offending sincerely religious people, and then they come after you with machetes."[5]
Barry began hisjournalism career in 1971, working as a general-assignment reporter for theDaily Local News inWest Chester, Pennsylvania. He covered local government and civic events and was promoted to city editor after about two years. He also started writing a weekly humor column for the newspaper and began to develop his unique style. He remained at the newspaper through 1974. He then worked briefly as acopy editor at the Philadelphia bureau ofAssociated Press before joining Burger Associates, a consulting firm.[6]
At Burger, he taught effective writing to businesspeople. In his own words, he "spent nearly eight years trying to get various businesspersons to...stop writing things like 'Enclosed please find the enclosed enclosures,' but...eventually realized that it was hopeless."[7]
In 1981, he wrote a humorous guest column inThe Philadelphia Inquirer about watching the birth of his son, which attracted the attention ofGene Weingarten, then an editor of theMiami Herald Sunday magazine,Tropic. Weingarten hired Barry as a humor columnist in 1983. Barry's column was syndicated nationally. Barry won aPulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1988 for "his consistently effective use of humor as a device for presenting fresh insights into serious concerns".[8]
Barry's first novel,Big Trouble, was published in 1999. The book was adapted into amotion picture directed byBarry Sonnenfeld and starringTim Allen,Rene Russo, andPatrick Warburton, with a cameo by Barry (deleted inpost-production). The movie was originally due for release in September 2001, but was postponed following theSeptember 11, 2001 attacks because the story involved terrorists smuggling anuclear weapon onto an airplane. The film was released in April 2002.
In response to a column in which Barry mocked the cities ofGrand Forks, North Dakota, andEast Grand Forks, Minnesota, for calling themselves the "Grand Cities", Grand Forks named a sewage pumping station after Barry in January 2002. Barry traveled to Grand Forks for the dedication ceremony.[9]
Articles written by Barry have appeared in publications such asBoating,Home Office Computing, andReader's Digest, in addition to theChicken Soup for the Soul inspirational book series. Two of his articles have been included inThe Best American Sports Writing series. One of his columns was used as the introduction to the bookPirattitude!: So You Wanna Be a Pirate? Here's How! (ISBN 0-451-21649-0), a follow-up to Barry's role in publicizingInternational Talk Like a Pirate Day. His books have frequently appeared onThe New York Times Best Seller list.
On October 31, 2004, Barry announced that he would be taking an indefinite leave of absence of at least a year from his weekly column to spend more time with his family. In December 2005, Barry said in an interview withEditor & Publisher that he would not resume his weekly column, although he would continue such features as his yearly gift guide, his year-in-review feature, and his blog, as well as an occasional article or column.
In 2005, Barry won theWalter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism.[10]
From 1993 to 1997,CBS broadcast the sitcomDave's World based on the booksDave Barry Turns 40 andDave Barry's Greatest Hits. The show starredHarry Anderson as Barry andDeLane Matthews as his wife Beth. In an early episode, Barry appeared in acameo role. After four seasons, the program was canceled shortly after being moved from its "coveted" Monday night slot[11] to the "Friday night death slot", so named because of its association with low viewership.[12]
During college, Barry was in a band called the Federal Duck (the band issued a self-titled album onMusicor Records in 1968, but by that time Barry was no longer in the group). While at theMiami Herald, he and several of his colleagues created a band called the Urban Professionals, with Barry on lead guitar and vocals. They performed an original song called "TheTupperware Song" at the Tupperware headquarters inOrlando, Florida.[13]
Beginning in 1992, Barry played lead guitar in theRock Bottom Remainders, a rock band made up of published authors.Remainder is a publishing term for a book that does not sell. The band was founded by Barry's sister-in-law,Kathi Kamen Goldmark, for anAmerican Booksellers Association convention, and has includedStephen King,Amy Tan,Ridley Pearson,Scott Turow,Mitch Albom,Roy Blount Jr.,Barbara Kingsolver,Matt Groening, and Barry's brotherSam, among others.[14][15] The band's members "are not musically skilled, but they are extremely loud", according to Barry. Several high-profile musicians, includingAl Kooper,Warren Zevon, andRoger McGuinn have performed with the band, andBruce Springsteen sat in at least once. The band's road tour resulted in the book,Mid-Life Confidential: The Rock Bottom Remainders Tour America with Three Chords and an Attitude. The Rock Bottom Remainders disbanded in 2012 following Goldmark's death from breast cancer. They have reunited several times, performing at theTucson Festival of Books in 2016 and 2018.
Beginning in 1984, Barry andTropic editorsGene Weingarten andTom Shroder have organized theTropic Hunt (now the Herald Hunt), an annualpuzzlehunt in Miami. AWashington, D.C., spinoff, thePost Hunt, began in 2008.[16]
Barry has run several mock campaigns for president of the United States, running on alibertarian platform. He has also written for theLibertarian Party's national newsletter.[17]
The screen adaptation of Barry's bookDave Barry's Complete Guide to Guys was released in 2005; it is available on DVD.[18]
Barry married Lois Ann Shelnutt in 1969.[1] He married Beth Lenox in 1976. Barry and Lenox worked together at theDaily Local News, where they began their journalism careers on the same day in September 1971; they had one child, Robert, born 1980. Barry and Lenox divorced in 1993. In 1996, Barry marriedMiami HeraldsportswriterMichelle Kaufman;[19] they had a daughter, Sophie, in 2000.
Barry's father and his youngest brother suffered fromalcoholism, and his father died in 1984; his sister Mary Katherine was institutionalized forschizophrenia; and his mother died bysuicide in 1987.[20][21]
Barry has had dogs named Goldie, Earnest, Zippy, and Lucy. All have been mentioned regularly in Barry's columns.[22]
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