ABSTRACT
Erma Bombeck, humorist and columnist, was born in Dayton, Ohio, on February 21, 1927, to Erma Haines and Cassius Fiste. Bombeck joined the Roman Catholic Church, leaving the United Brethren Church to which all her family had belonged. The years of suburban living were significant for Erma Bombeck. In 1965 the Dayton Journal merged with the Herald, and Bombeck was invited to write a twice-weekly column. Bombeck's decision to laugh at herself and at the experiences of suburbia has given her a never-ending source of humorous material. Bombeck recalls the stories she heard as she sat week after week in the dentist's office. Bombeck found encouragement for her humor through reading Jean Kerr, Please Don't Eat the Daisies encouraged her to express her own unorthodox look at life. Erma Bombeck has given the world a great gift, a collage of laughter and tears, bordered with a deeper understanding of what it means to be able to laugh at ourselves.
