Document Type
Blog
Publication Date
2-28-2019
Abstract
Modern culture applauds the "overnight success." One of the most oft-quoted factoids about Erma Bombeck is her "instant" rise to fame and fortune. Less than a month after her column At Wit's End first appeared in the Journal Herald in Dayton in 1965, it was syndicated by Newsday. The column was carried by 38 papers by the end of the year and 500 papers by the end of the decade. This narrative gives the impression that all of a sudden one day, Erma - fed up with ironing sheets, removing yellow wax buildup from her kitchen floor, and packing fluffernutter sandwiches in her kids' school lunches - sat down at a typewriter with a cry of "Eureka," discovered her sense of humor, and, overnight, became a columnist as widely read as Mark Twain. The proverbial 25-year overnight success is closer to the truth.
Keywords
Erma Bombeck, humor writing, Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop, University of Dayton
eCommons Citation
Frontczak, Susan Marie, "Erma Bombeck – 25-year overnight success!" (2019). Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop Blog. 1156.
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/ebww_blog/1156
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