Dave Barry

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Dave Barry

David Barry, Jr. (born July 3, 1947 in Armonk , New York ) is an American humorous bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize winner who wrote a column in the Miami Herald from 1983 to 2005 , which was distributed throughout the United States .

biography

Barry was born in Armonk, New York, United States. There was his father, David Barry, Sr. Pastor of the Presbyterian Church . Dave Barry attended Pleasantville High School , and Haverford College , where he graduated in English. As the son of a minister and a graduate of a quaker- related college, Barry was able to avoid conscription and service in the Vietnam War because he refused to do military service on religious grounds, despite the fact that he said in a 2001 interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that he had been an atheist before.

He began his journalist career as a reporter for the Daily Local News in West Chester , Pennsylvania . In 1975 he joined Burger Associates, a consulting firm , teaching business people how to write powerfully. In 1983 Dave Barry was hired by Gene Weingarten as a humorous columnist for the Miami Herald . In 1988 he was finally honored with the Pulitzer Prize for his "consistently effective use of humor as a means of providing cheeky insights into serious matters" , although he harshly criticized the jury at the award ceremony and disapproved of the pompousness of the New York Times , the co-organizer of the event.

For the American Booksellers Association Congress in 1992, several authors, including David Barry, formed a band for charitable purposes: The Rock Bottom Remainders (a remainder is a technical term for a book that does not sell leaves). According to Barry, the band members, over time Stephen King , Amy Tan , Ridley Pearson , Mitch Albom , Kathy Goldmark , Roy Blount Jr. , Barbara Kingsolver and Matt Groening , among others , “are not particularly musically gifted, but extremely loud. “The band's tour culminated in the book Mid-Life Confidential: The Rock Bottom Remainders Tour America with Three Chords and an Attitude, which is no longer in print.

The broadcaster CBS aired four seasons of the sitcom Always Trouble with Dave from 1993 to 1997 . The books Dave Barry Turns 40 and Dave Barry's Greatest Hits served as the basis . The show stars Harry Anderson as Barry and DeLane Matthews as his wife Beth. In an early episode, Barry himself appeared as a cameo . In the end, the program was only moved from the slot on Monday to an unfavorable location on Friday night and then dropped off.

Barry's first novel, Big Trouble, was made into a film. Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld ; the main characters were Tim Allen , Rene Russo and Patrick Warburton , a former actor from Dave's World . Dave Barry himself also appeared again in a cameo role. The actual release date at the end of 2001 was postponed at short notice due to the terrorist attacks of September 11th , because the film is about smuggling an atomic bomb into an airplane, among other things.

David Barry and his first wife, Beth, have a son named Robert, born in 1980. The two divorced in the mid-1990s. In 1996, Barry married Michelle Kaufman, a sports writer who was employed by the Miami Herald at the time . Their daughter Sophie was born in 2000. Both are featured regularly in his columns, but notably, he never said a word about his divorce. The crucial meeting with Michelle, in which she was courted by Barry, is portrayed in a dramatized form as the closing words to his novel Dave Barry in Cyberspace ; however, the author has used other names: he described himself as "RayAdverb" ( anagram by Dave Barry), and "MSPtato" was used for his wife.

Barry defined his 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. "(Eng .:" Expression of the extent of the realization that we are trapped in a world that is almost completely without reason. We laugh over the anxiety that we experience feel this thought. ")

In addition to the government, the main topics of his columns are typically male and female behavior patterns, which he depicts in a completely exaggerated manner and makes it ridiculous. Many articles deal with grotesque (real) hobbies of men that are widespread in the USA, e.g. B. the lawn mower parade of Arcola, Buikwettschleudern with recreated medieval catapults and snow plow hockey. In several columns he also commented on the so-called “Anonymous Mountain People”, a group of around 30 middle-aged men who spend their free time in nature. This mid-southwest US organization attracted Barry's ridicule after an arrow was accidentally shot in the skull of a new member during a test of courage. The shooter, a "43-year-old man with a family and a decent job," as the press later wrote, stated that he had wanted to shoot the victim off the head in Wilhelm Tell fashion. As if by a miracle the arrow missed the brain and the unfortunate survived.

Other topics in his columns include exploding objects and living beings (including toilets, cows, whales, vacuum cleaners, Barbie dolls, pop-tarts (American toast-like snack that can be baked in a toaster), winter sports (e.g. dog sled races), generation conflicts and cars) . The Really Bad Song, whew !, series in which Dave Barry settled the worst (American) songs of all time is also legendary . Dave Barry was written to by hundreds of readers who also had bad songs to report. This culminated in Dave Barry's book of bad songs, which published the results of this survey.

He is co-organizer of the Tropic Hunt, an annual scavenger hunt in Miami.

On October 20, 2004, Barry announced that he would be ceasing work on his weekly column for an indefinite period, but at least a year, in order to be able to spend more time with his family. He said, however, that he will continue to write satire and children's books and will complete the on-screen version of his book Dave Barry's Complete Guide to Guys . He has not yet made up his mind to continue the column. Nevertheless, he writes regularly in his weblog. He shares this task with Judi Smith . He also continues to do book signing on the side.

Dave Barry currently lives in Coral Gables near Miami .

Trivia

Many of David Barry's quotes can be found in the Fortune program , a kind of fortune cookie program for Linux distributions.

Dave Barry once picked up his son Robert from school in a Viennese mobile home .

In California there is a water treatment plant named after Dave Barry. He documented this in his book Boogers Are My Beat: More Lies, But Some Actual Journalism! .

Dave Barry has been mentioned twice in the television series The Simpsons . In one episode, Lisa replies to her mother Marge: "Uh, I was just looking for Dave Barry's column". Then Bart says: “It's great. He writes funny about the negative side of life ”. In another episode, Marge says on the subject of changing lanes on multi-lane roads in a traffic jam: “As soon as I drive over there, they are on the lane. Erma Bombeck said that and Dave Barry confirmed it ”.

Works

Movies

  • Big Trouble ( Big Trouble ) (2001/2)
  • Dave Barry's Complete Guide to Guys (2005)

Fiction

Non-fiction

  • The Taming of the Screw, Colloquial (1983)
  • Babies and Other Hazards of Sex: How to Make a Tiny Person in Only 9 Months With Tools You Probably Have Around the Home. Babies and Other Mysteries of Sex: How to Make a Tiny Person in Only 9 Months, with Tools That Probably Have Around the Home are near them) (1984)
  • Stay Fit and Healthy Until You're Dead (1985)
  • Claw Your Way to the Top: How to Become the Head of a Major Corporation in Roughly a Week (1986)
  • Dave Barry's Guide to Marriage and / or Sex (1987)
  • Homes and Other Black Holes (1988)
  • Dave Barry Slept Here: A Sort of History of the United States (1989)
  • Dave Barry Turns 40 (1990)
  • Dave Barry's Only Travel Guide You'll Ever Need (1991)
  • Dave Barry's Guide to Life ( 1991) includes Dave Barry's Guide to Marriage and / or Sex, Claw Your Way to the Top, Stay Fit and Healthy Until You're Dead and Babies and Other Hazards of Sex
  • Dave Barry Does Japan (An American in Tokyo; Karaoke for Beginners) (1992)
  • Dave Barry's Gift Guide to End All Gift Guides (1994)
  • Dave Barry's Complete Guide to Guys (1996)
  • Dave Barry in Cyberspace (Dave Barry in Cyberspace) (1996)
  • Dave Barry's Book of Bad Songs (1997)
  • Dave Barry Turns 50 (1998)
  • Dave Barry Hits Below the Beltway: A Vicious and Unprovoked Attack on Our Most Cherished Political Institutions (2001)
  • “My Teenage Son's Goal in Life is to Make Me Feel 3,500 Years Old” and Other Thoughts On Parenting From Dave Barry (“My Adolescent Son's Goal Is To Make Me Feel 3,500 Years Old” and other parenting wisdom from Dave Barry) ( 2001)
  • "The Greatest Invention In The History Of Mankind Is Beer" And Other Manly Insights From Dave Barry (2001)
  • “Dave Barry's Money Secrets” like: Why is there an Giant Eyeball on the Dollar? ("Dave Barry Banking Secrets" like: Why is there a giant eyeball on the dollar?) (2005)
  • Dave Barry's History of the Millennium (so far) (2007)
  • I'll Mature when I'm dead (2010)

Collected columns

  • Dave Barry's Bad Habits: A 100% Fact-Free Book (1987)
  • Dave Barry's Greatest Hits (1988)
  • Dave Barry Talks Back (1991)
  • The World According to Dave Barry ( 1994) including Dave Barry Talks Back and Dave Barry's Greatest Hits
  • Dave Barry is NOT Making This Up (1995)
  • Dave Barry Is from Mars and Venus (1997)
  • Dave Barry Is Not Taking This Sitting Down ( Dave Barry is not the sit out (colloquially)) (2000)
  • Dave Barry: Boogers Are My Beat (2003)

In cooperation

  • Mid-Life Confidential: The Rock Bottom Remainders Tour America With Three Chords and an Attitude (1994) 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 (1998), chain novel 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

Radio plays

  • A Totally Random Evening With Dave Barry (1992)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Barry, Dave
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Barry, David junior (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American writer and humorist
DATE OF BIRTH July 3, 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH Armonk , New York , USA