David McAlister "Dave" Barry is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author and columnist,
who wrote a nationally syndicated humor column for The Miami Herald from 1983 to 2005.
He has also written numerous books of humor and parody, as well as comedic novels.
Early life and education Barry was born in Armonk, New York, where
his father, David, was a Presbyterian minister.
He was educated at Wampus Elementary School, Harold C. Crittenden Junior High School, and
Pleasantville High School where he was elected "Class Clown" in 1965.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Haverford College in 1969.
As an alumnus of a Quaker-affiliated college, he avoided military service during the Vietnam
War by registering as a religious conscientious objector.
Notwithstanding his father's vocation, Dave decided "early on" that he was an atheist.
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."
Writing career Dave Barry began his journalism career in
1971, working as a general assignment reporter for the Daily Local News in West Chester,
Pennsylvania, near his alma mater, Haverford College.
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 paper and began to develop his unique
style.
He remained at the newspaper through 1974.
He then worked briefly as a copy editor at the Associated Press' Philadelphia bureau
before joining Burger Associates, a consulting firm.
At Burger, he taught effective writing to business people.
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."
In 1981 he wrote a humorous guest column in the Philadelphia Inquirer, which attracted
the attention of Gene Weingarten, then an editor of the Miami Herald's Sunday magazine
Tropic.
Weingarten hired Barry as a humor columnist in 1983; Barry's column was syndicated nationally.
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."
Barry's first novel, Big Trouble, was published in 1999.
The book was adapted into a motion picture directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and starring
Tim Allen, Rene Russo, and Patrick Warburton, with a cameo by Barry.
The movie was originally due for release in September 2001 but was postponed following
the September 11, 2001 attacks because the story involved smuggling a nuclear weapon
onto an airplane.
The film was released in April 2002.
In response to a column in which Barry mocked the cities of Grand Forks, North Dakota and
East 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.
Articles written by Barry have appeared in publications such as Boating, Home Office
Computing, and Reader's Digest, in addition to the Chicken Soup for the Soul inspirational
book series.
Two of his articles have been included in the Best American Sportswriting series.
One of his columns was used as the introduction to the book Pirattitude!: So You Wanna Be
a Pirate?
Here's How!, a follow-up to Barry's role in creating International Talk Like a Pirate
Day.
His books have frequently appeared on the New York Times Best Seller List.
On October 31, 2004, Dave Barry announced that he would be taking an indefinite leave
of absence of at least a year from his weekly column in order to spend more time with his
family.
In December 2005, Barry said in an interview with Editor and 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.
On Sunday, September 22, 2013, the opening night of the 15th annual Fall for the Book
festival in Fairfax, Virginia, Barry was awarded the event's highest honor, the Fairfax Prize
honoring outstanding literary achievement and presented by the Fairfax Library Foundation.
Dave's World television series From 1993 to 1997, CBS broadcast the sitcom
Dave's World based on the books Dave Barry Turns 40 and Dave Barry's Greatest Hits.
The show starred Harry Anderson as Barry and DeLane Matthews as his wife Beth.
In an early episode, Barry appeared in a cameo role.
After four seasons, the program was canceled shortly after being moved from Monday to the
"Friday night death slot".
Music During college, Barry was in a band called
the Federal Duck.
While at the Miami 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 "The Tupperware Song" at the Tupperware headquarters in Orlando, Florida.
Beginning in 1992, Barry played lead guitar in the Rock Bottom Remainders, a rock band
made up of published authors.
The band was founded by Barry's sister-in-law Kathi Kamen Goldmark for an American Booksellers
Association convention, and has also included Stephen King, Amy Tan, Ridley Pearson, Scott
Turow, Mitch Albom, Roy Blount, Jr., Barbara Kingsolver, Matt Groening, and Barry’s brother
Sam, among others.
The band's members "are not musically skilled, but they are extremely loud," according to
Barry.
Several high-profile musicians, including Al Kooper, Warren Zevon, and Roger McGuinn,
have performed with the band, and Bruce 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.
Other activities Beginning in 1984, Barry and Tropic editors
Gene Weingarten and Tom Shroder have organized the Tropic Hunt, an annual puzzlehunt in Miami.
A Washington, DC spinoff, the Post Hunt, began in 2008.
Barry has run several mock campaigns for President of the United States, running on a libertarian
platform.
He has also written for the Libertarian Party's national newsletter.
The screen adaptation of Barry's book Dave Barry's Complete Guide to Guys was released
in 2005; it premiered at several film festivals and is available on DVD.
Style 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."
When distinguishing fact from hyperbole, Barry frequently asserts: "I am not making this
up."
Among his favorite topics are exploding or flaming items, dogs lacking intelligence,
live blogging the television series 24, and amusing government studies.
He labels various posts on his blog with long acronyms, such as WBAGNFARB, poking fun at
long internet abbreviations.
He also enjoys making fun of South Florida, where he resides.
In Dave Barry Hits Below the Beltway, he suggested that many of America's problems could be solved
if South Florida were literally sawed off from the mainland and disowned by the United
States.
He also has made fun of the region in Homes and Other Black Holes as well as other books.
Even his novels Big Trouble and Tricky Business capitalize heavily in the absurdities that
exist only in South Florida.
In Big Trouble, for example, the ridiculous nuances of South Florida are expressed through
the experiences of the two hit men, Henry and Leonard.
They experience an irritating sports talk show host, a highly incompetent airport security
detail, and are attacked by a python by the name of Daphne in the same airport before
deciding that they never want to return to Florida again.
Barry also uses Big Trouble to poke fun at the existence of a Russian arms black market,
the corrupt political system, and the incredibly loose labor laws in the region.
The phrase "would be a good name for a rock band" is an observation Barry often applies
to phrases that pop up in his writing, such as "The Moos of Derision", "Decomposing Tubers"
and "Hearty Polyp Chuckles".
In keeping with this, Barry's website contains a fairly sizable list of phrases that he claims
would be good names for a rock band.
In his humor books, Barry often cites a humorous phrase or image, which he then mercilessly
repeats throughout.
Notable examples include the Hawley-Smoot Tariff in Dave Barry Slept Here: A Sort of
History of the United States, Buffalo Bob in Dave Barry Turns 50, and giant prehistoric
zucchini in Dave Barry Hits Below the Beltway, e.g., "Growth of U.S. government according
to Alan Greenspan=giant prehistoric zucchini."
He continues to reference these things, occasionally with fake subtlety, e.g., "The H*****-S****
T*****".
His novels typically feature numerous initially unrelated subplots, many related to criminal
activity, which slowly intertwine over the course of the story.
Many critics explicitly compare this style to that of Elmore Leonard, though with a more
comedic tone.
Personal life Barry married his second wife, Beth Lenox,
in 1976.
Barry and Lenox worked together at the Daily Local News, where they began their journalism
careers on the same day in September 1971; they had one child, Robert.
Barry and Lenox divorced in 1993.
In 1996, Barry married Miami Herald sportswriter Michelle Kaufman; they had a daughter, Sophie,
in 2000.
Barry has had dogs named Earnest, Zippy, and now Lucy.
All have been mentioned regularly in Barry's columns.
Works Non-fiction
The Taming of the Screw Babies and Other Hazards of Sex: How to Make
a Tiny Person in Only 9 Months With Tools You Probably Have Around the Home
Stay Fit and Healthy Until You're Dead Claw Your Way to the Top: How to Become the
Head of a Major Corporation in Roughly a Week Dave Barry's Guide to Marriage and/or Sex
Homes and Other Black Holes Dave Barry Slept Here: A Sort of History of
the United States Dave Barry Turns 40
Dave Barry's Only Travel Guide You'll Ever Need
Dave Barry's Guide to Life Dave Barry Does Japan
Dave Barry's Gift Guide to End All Gift Guides Dave Barry's Complete Guide to Guys
Dave Barry in Cyberspace Dave Barry's Book of Bad Songs
Dave Barry Turns 50 Dave Barry Hits Below the Beltway: A Vicious
and Unprovoked Attack on Our Most Cherished Political Institutions
"My Teenage Son's Goal in Life is to Make Me Feel 3,500 Years Old" and Other Thoughts
On Parenting From Dave Barry "The Greatest Invention in the History Of
Mankind Is Beer" And Other Manly Insights From Dave Barry
Dave Barry's Money Secrets Dave Barry on Dads
Dave Barry's History of the Millennium I'll Mature When I'm Dead
You Can Date Boys When You're Forty: Dave Barry on Parenting and Other Topics He Knows
Very Little About Live Right and Find Happiness: Life Lessons
and Other Ravings from Dave Barry Collected columns
Dave Barry's Bad Habits: A 100% Fact-Free Book
Dave Barry's Greatest Hits Dave Barry Talks Back
The World According to Dave Barry includes Dave Barry Talks Back and Dave Barry's Greatest
Hits Dave Barry is NOT Making This Up
Dave Barry Is from Mars and Venus Dave Barry Is Not Taking This Sitting Down
Boogers Are My Beat Fiction
Big Trouble Tricky Business
Peter and the Starcatchers ISBN 0-7868-3790-X Peter and the Shadow Thieves ISBN 0-7868-3787-X
Peter and the Secret of Rundoon ISBN 0-7868-3788-8 Escape From the Carnivale ISBN 0-7868-3789-6
The Shepherd, the Angel, and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog
Cave of the Dark Wind ISBN 0-7868-3790-X Science Fair
Peter and the Sword of Mercy Blood Tide
The Bridge To Never Land Lunatics ISBN 978-0425253373
Insane City ISBN 978-0399158681 Film adaptations
Big Trouble Dave Barry's Complete Guide to Guys
Peter and the Starcatchers Collaborations
Mid-Life Confidential: The Rock Bottom Remainders Tour America With Three Chords and an Attitude
with Stephen King, Kathi Kamen Goldmark, Al Kooper, Ridley Pearson, Roy Blount, Jr., Joel
Selvin, Amy Tan, Dave Marsh, Tad Bartimus, Matt Groening, Greil Marcus, Tabitha King,
Barbara Kingsolver, Michael Dorris Naked Came the Manatee with Carl Hiaasen,
Elmore Leonard, James W. Hall, Edna Buchanan, Les Standiford, Paul Levine, Brian Antoni,
Tananarive Due, John Dufresne, Vicki Hendricks, Carolina Hospital, Evelyn Mayerson
Novels with Ridley Pearson and Alan Zweibel.
Hard Listening, is an interactive ebook about his participation in a writer/musician band,
the Rock Bottom Remainders.
Published by digital publisher, Coliloquy, LLC
Audio recordings A Totally Random Evening With Dave Barry
English Majors with Garrison Keillor Stranger than Fiction
See also
Exploding whale Notes
External links Dave Barry on Twitter
The Official Dave Barry Website The Official Dave Barry Blog
Write TV Public Television Interview with Dave Barry
Dave Barry, The Miami Herald Dave Barry at the Internet Movie Database
Complete Guide to Guys official website Rock Bottom Remainders, "Don't Quit Your Day
Job" Records "The Last Laugh"
Dave Barry Interview Podcast – Horace J. Digby Report