You probably recognize Dave Barry’s name even if you don’t know it. A prolific writer, he began his journalism career in 1971 in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
Over the decades, he carved out a career as an author and humorist. His syndicated column ran in more than 500 newspapers, inspired the TV show Dave’s World, and even won him the Pulitzer Prize.
But it’s his humor that I’ve loved for so long. His viewpoint helps us to examine our own lives and learn lessons with a light-hearted view.
Learning About Aging from His Dog
When Barry turned 40, he wrote about it. His Dave Barry Turns 40 was published in 1991 and delved into important topics like Midlife Marriage, wise financial planning, and sex after 40.
All with the stark realities that left you crying from laughter, of course.
Now that he’s reached his 70s, Barry admits he wasn’t happy about the reality. But he also realized that watching his beloved dog Lucy deal with old age that she was handling it far better than he was.
Throughout his book Lessons from Lucy, he aims to figure out how she manages to stay so happy and to see if he can improve his own life by doing the things she does. (Some of that turns out to be a struggle since Lucy likes people more than Dave does, of course.)
I love Lessons from Lucy, but I also just love the perspective of learning from a gentle, innocent creature about how to age well.
Living Life to the Fullest
Barry may be 76 now, but that doesn’t mean he’s slowing down (or maturing for that matter).
He released a new novel, Swamp Story, just this past May. From an actual Florida Man (Dave Barry), he takes his readers on a Florida caper full of oddballs and twists and turns that will keep you sucked into the story until you’re done.
Barry is a great reminder that your age can really be just a number and you can continue to do what you love, no matter how old you are.
You can even refuse to “grow up” if you don’t want to!
