...I got to see Dave Barry speak the other day. He came to ASU to receive the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism and Mass Communication. Apparently, Cronkite was somewhere around, too, but I didn't get to see him.
At any rate, Dave Barry is about what you'd expect from reading his columns. He was funny, had a lot of great storie and plenty of witty remarks. He's also just as immature in person as he is when he writes for the newspaper. It's pretty refreshing to hear someone successful admit that they're awkward around people. Barry told this great story about meeting Barbara Bush while she was First Lady. He apparently ended up standing next to her during a photo shoot (not something he wanted, apparently) and what he said to her was, "I shop at the same supermarket as your son Jeb!"
Alas, it seems that the hiatus from column-writing is going to be permanent, but he does have plans to write more books. I'm personally rooting for another presidential run in 2008, but I get the impression that job would be considered "work," and Barry wouldn't actually take it even if he were elected to office. Oh well.
So, hooray for going to school on a big campus that attracts famous people now and then!
Posted by lord trousers (Member # 8741) on :
You're making that up.
Every time I've met Dave Barry, he's been a pompous, sour, grouchy git. I tried to get him to take a picture of me, and he ignored me completely - even after I offered him a print!
Also, he never responds when I mail him thong underwear or fax him pictures of my tattoo. He's unnaturally bad-natured that way.
Posted by Narnia (Member # 1071) on :
Oh Amy, I'm jealous! I am a faithful Barryite to the death!!
Posted by JaimeBenlevy (Member # 6222) on :
Huh. I've never really heard much about Dave Barry, but the other day I read a short column in the Miami Herald (my local paper) about the hurricanes, which was very funny. I'm pretty sure it was by Dave Barry, the name rings that bell now, even though I didn't know he was so popular at the time. Are you sure he's on a hiatus from writing? I'm also positive that the short column had his name on top.
Posted by Cali-Angel-Cat (Member # 8799) on :
My home paper in Ohio used to have his column in the TV section and I loved to read his stuff on computers!
Posted by Princess Leah (Member # 6026) on :
For YEARS, every monday morning my only reason to wake up was that Dave Barry's column would be in the paper. *laughs just remembering the hilarity*
Posted by Narnia (Member # 1071) on :
Jaime, every paper has been running 'reruns' since he stopped writing new stuff. In fact, that hurricane piece might be the famous one that I've laughed at several times.
Or not. He's written several. Posted by JaimeBenlevy (Member # 6222) on :
I remember one funny line. It was a FAQ column, so it went something like this:
What do we do if the street lights are out?
*something something something* So basically treat it like you would a regular stop sign.
You mean ignore it?
That's the Florida Way.
Posted by JaimeBenlevy (Member # 6222) on :
Come to think of it, there alot of lines in that column that I remember now that I laughed at. There was one more where he was saying that the reason that there are so many hurricanes lately is because his mother-in-law broke her mirror. And then it went:
So is the mirror being fixed?
FEMA is working on it.
So we're doomed?
Yeah, pretty much.
That made me laugh out loud when I read that.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
quote:Originally posted by Narnia: every paper has been running 'reruns' since he stopped writing new stuff.
I'm pretty sure that my newspaper doesn't run his columns, and never has.
<reads the New York Times>
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Naturally not. The NY Times doesn't even have funnies!
Posted by human_2.0 (Member # 6006) on :
His one line comments with links to other stories are making me totally laugh.
Posted by Mr.Funny (Member # 4467) on :
I miss Dave Barry's columns. He almost always made me laugh. Our newspaper got some other humor columnist to take Dave's place, but it's just not the same.
Posted by Shigosei (Member # 3831) on :
I wonder if I can convince my town's paper to run Chris's columns. It's like Dave Barry's writing without quite so many booger references.
Barry's columns used to be the first thing I would read on Sundays when I got ahold of the newspaper. Sometimes it was the only thing that I read.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
quote:Originally posted by rivka: Naturally not. The NY Times doesn't even have funnies!
Well, a few weeks ago, the Sunday Times Magazine section launched something called "The Funny Pages". My humor-loving son grabs it each week and closely examines these pages, and has yet to discern anything funny at all.
In this week's cartoon, a woman with a missing leg gets woken up by her cat in the night. She gets the cat some cat food, then notices the sound of running water. She follows the sound to the bathroom, where she sees the toilet is running on and overflowing. She pulls up the floater ball, and props it up with her crutch, dons her prosthetic leg and procedes to mop the floor. But, alas, some water has already begun to drip through the ceiling of the apartment below.
That's about the peak of levity for the New York Times.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
So you see why it's never been Barry-fied.
Posted by SteveRogers (Member # 7130) on :
quote: In this week's cartoon, a woman with a missing leg gets woken up by her cat in the night. She gets the cat some cat food, then notices the sound of running water. She follows the sound to the bathroom, where she sees the toilet is running on and overflowing. She pulls up the floater ball, and props it up with her crutch, dons her prosthetic leg and procedes to mop the floor. But, alas, some water has already begun to drip through the ceiling of the apartment below.
Either I'm over-analyzing this....or I'm under-analyzing it. Either way, I cannot detect anything remotely humurous in the whole bit.
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
Bah. I meet Dave Barry at least once a year. In fact, I met him yesterday when Cor and I completed the Herald Hunt. I had him and Tom Shroder autograph the slip of paper confirming the fact that we had completed the Hunt and everything!
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
quote: I cannot detect anything remotely humurous in the whole bit.
Or Tibial. Or Fibulal.
You didn't miss anything. "The Funny Pages" a la NY Times are NOT funny. But they are a bit creepy weird.
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