'I used everything you gave me'

 

“If you can't make it better, you can still laugh at it.” – Erma Bombeck

 

Born in Ohio on this date in 1927, Erma Bombeck was perhaps the “most read” columnist in America and Canada in her lifetime, with more than 30 million readers per week in some 900 newspapers across the two nations. 

 

A self-proclaimed “chronicler of suburban life,” she wrote over 4,000 newspaper columns and published 15 books, most of which became bestsellers under titles like The Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank.   She died at age 69 after battling a lifelong kidney problem complicated further by a bout with breast cancer.  Even during treatment she found humor, once noting, “Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died.”  

 

Bombeck’s writing began at the University of Dayton where she worked for the school newspaper.  After college she wrote for the Dayton Herald but said “straight news” was not her forte'.  “I was terrible at straight items,” she said.  “When I wrote obituaries, my mother said the only thing I ever got them to do was die in alphabetical order.”   

 

Her writing popularity led to regular appearances on radio and television and even as a catalyst for the 1986 Rose Parade theme – “A Celebration of Laughter” – where she was named Grand Marshal.  Bombeck also wrote eloquently for human rights and against poverty, disease and hunger.   Her book I Want to Grow Hair, I Want to Grow Up, I Want to Go to Boise: Children Surviving Cancer raised millions for medical causes and received the American Cancer Society’s Medal of Honor.

While battling her own illnesses, she said she planned to write as long as possible.  “When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me'.”