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Image:DaveBarry.jpg|thumb|150px|Dave Barry

David Barry, Jr. (born July 3, 1947) is a
bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize-winning
humorist who wrote a nationally syndicated column
for the Miami, Florida|Miami, Florida newspaper,
The Miami Herald, from 1983 to January, 2005. His
column is currently on a one-year hiatus, after
which it may or may not return.

==Biography==

Barry was born in Armonk, New York|Armonk, New
York, where his father, David Barry, Sr., was a
Presbyterianism|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 language|English in 1969.  As
the son of a minister and an alumnus of a
Religious Society of Friends|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 he eventually realized
that it was hopeless."  In 1983, Barry started
working as a humor columnist for the Miami Herald.
Barry won a Pulitzer Prize|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 musical band|band for charity: Rock Bottom
Remainders|The Rock Bottom Remainders (a
publishing term for books that don'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 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 am not making this up." His
writings center largely on exploding or flaming
items (cattle|cows, exploding whales, vacuum
cleaner|vacuum cleaners, toilet|toilets, pop
tarts, Barbie dolls, etc.), dogs' lacking
intelligence, and amusing  government studies.
Barry also has libertarianism|libertarian
political leanings.  He labels various posts on
his blog with long abbreviations, such as
wiktionary:OIYDWYMTTY(NY)G|OIYDWYMTTY(NY)G 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.

On October 20, 2004, Dave Barry announced that he
would be taking an indefinite leave of absence of
at least a year from his weekly humor column with
the Herald in order to spend more time with his
family. He said that he would continue writing
humor and children's books and working on filming
the screen adaptation of his book, Dave Barry's
Complete Guide to Guys. He has not yet decided
whether he will return to writing the column in
2006.  Barry does, however continue to post
updates in his weblog, which duty he shares with
his "research department," Judi Smith. In addition
he maintains an active book-signing schedule.

==Works==

===Films===
*Big Trouble (2001/2)
*Dave Barry's Complete Guide to Guys (in
production 2005)

===Fiction===
*Big Trouble (1999)
*Tricky Business (2002)
*Peter and the Starcatchers (2004, with Ridley
Pearson)

===Non-fiction===
*The Taming of the Screw (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 (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 (1992)
*Dave Barry's Gift Guide to End All Gift Guides
(1994)
*Dave Barry's Complete Guide to Guys (1996)
*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 (2001)
*"The Greatest Invention In The History Of Mankind
Is Beer" And Other Manly Insights From Dave Barry
(2001)

===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) includes
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 (2000)
*Dave Barry: Boogers Are My Beat (2003)

===Collaborations===
*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) 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

===Audio Recordings===
*A Totally Random Evening With Dave Barry (1992)

==External links==
Wikiquote

*http://www.davebarry.com/ The
Unofficial Dave Barry Website
*http://weblog.herald.com/column/davebarry/ The
Unofficial Dave Barry Blog
*http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/colum
nists/dave_barry/ Dave Barry, The Miami Herald
*imdb title|id=0246464|title=Big Trouble
*imdb title|id=0407680|title=Complete Guide to
Guys
*http://www.guidetoguys.com/ Complete Guide to
Guys official website
*http://www.dqydj.com/rbr.htm Rock Bottom
Remainders, "Don't Quit Your Day Job" Records
*http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/colum
nists/dave_barry/10546245.htm, "final column: 'The
last word, for now; humorist gives jokes a rest'"