“I was terrible at straight items. When I wrote obituaries, my mother said the only thing I ever got them to do was die in alphabetical order.”

American humorist

Erma Bombeck was an American humorist who became widely read for her newspaper column about suburban home life. Her column was syndicated from 1965 to 1996, and she wrote during the second half of the 20th century. She is best known for turning everyday domestic life into sharp, funny commentary that many readers recognized in their own homes. Fifteen books of her humor were published, and most of them became bestsellers.