Erma Bombeck Would Have Been 87 Today...Her Nephew Pays Tribute

Online, February 20, 2014 (Newswire.com) - For her many fans, I don't need to say much about Erma Bombeck. However, for the younger people, Erma Bombeck was a very popular writer and humorist. A few of her more popular books were The Grass is Always Greener over the Septic Tank and If Life's a Bowl of Cherries, What am I doing in the Pits.

She wrote a syndicated newspaper column as well as appearing on Good Morning America in a regular segment; commenting on life as a mother and house wife. My aunt was famous enough that even today she shows up in crossword puzzles!

I have lots of memories with my aunt, uncle and three cousins. We often spent time together even though they lived in Dayton, Ohio and we lived in Orlando, Fl. One of my favorite memories ended up in one of her newspaper columns. I was about twelve or thirteen when I spent the summer in Dayton. My Grandmother would take me with her and I would have a wonderful month of hanging out with her sons, Matt and Andy. One evening as it was getting dark, the three of us were called into the house. I was forever competitive and had to be first. I ran full speed in to the screen porch and then smack! I ran head first into the closed glass sliding doors. Glass flew everywhere. To this day, I don't know whether I was more stunned or embarrassed. If I would have done that at my house, my father would have gone ballistic. But not at my Aunt's house. I was not hurt and my Aunt was much more concerned about me than she was about the shattered glass doors.

My new book, A Pocketful of Posies, is dedicated as follows: To Erma Bombeck, my Aunt. What better inspiration can an author have than to witness his own aunt rise from a housewife living in Centerville, Ohio to a successful and beloved writer and humorist? I hope she would be proud.