By the beginning of the 1990’s, Dave Barry had al-
ready won a large number of fans ranging in age
from teenagers to baby boomers and senior citizens.
By the end of the decade, Barry’s humor columns
were run in over five hundred newspapers, reaching
millions of American households. As a humor col-
umnist forThe Miami Heraldand as a syndicated col-
umnist, Barry had already won national prominence
as a commentator on the ironies of middle-class life
in America with his 1988 Pulitzer Prize for Commen-
tary. Much of his popularity can be attributed to his
on-target, though often tending toward silly, obser-
vations on a wide range of topics from marriage to
fatherhood to U.S. history and government. The
range of his topics is evident even in the titles of his
works. Titles such asDave Barr y Slept Here: A Sort of
Histor y of the United States(1989),Dave Barr y’s Only
Travel Guide You’ll Ever Need(1991), andDave Barr y’s
Book of Bad Songs(1997) demonstrate the diversity of
his commentary.
During this decade, Barry published fifteen best-
selling books in addition to his weekly columns. In
1993, he became the first humor writer to have a
television series based on this life and writing air on
prime-time television. The series, starring Harry An-
derson as Barry, was broadcast until 1997. The pro-
lific writer then turned his attentions toward fiction
writing near the end of the decade. The 1999 publi-
cation ofBig Trouble, a satiric crime novel set in
South Florida, marked Barry’s entry into the world
of fiction. The novel sold well and was later made
into a movie starring Tim Allen.
Impact Dave Barry’s success is due in large part to
his ability to find humor in almost any situation. By
decade’s end, Barry had become one of the most
popular American humorists because of this cul-
tural commentary and because of his unique in-
sights into human foibles. Considered by many to
be one of the most significant voices of the baby-
boomer generation, Barry had earned a place
among the country’s most celebrated humorists. By
the end of the 1990’s, Barry was still reaching new
audiences with his own brand of zany humor, in-
sightful commentary, and biting satire.
Further Reading
Barry, Dave.Dave Barr y Slept Here: A Sort of Histor y of
the United States.New York: Ballantine, 1989.
___.Dave Barr y Turns Fifty.New York: Crown,
1998.
_______.Dave Barr y’s Greatest Hits. New York: Ballan-
tine, 1988.
Kimberley M. HollowaySee also Comedians; Literature in the United
States; Rock Bottom Remainders, The. Barry, Marion
Identification Civil rights activist and mayor of
Washington, D.C., 1979-1991 and 1995-1999
Born March 6, 1936; Itta Bena, Mississippi
The arrest and conviction of Barr y, a black mayor of a pre-
dominantly black city, for possession and use of cocaine
turned into a racially heated debate about alleged white per-
secution of prominent African Americans.
When Congress granted the District of Columbia
limited home rule in 1973, Marion Barry, a longtime
civil rights activist, won a seat on the city council in
1974 as the highest vote-getter. In 1978, he won elec-
tion as mayor of Washington, D.C. Despite his re-
peated reelections, rumors of drug use dogged
Barry.
On January 18, 1990, when former girlfriend
Rasheeda Moore cooperated in a Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) sting operation, Barry was
filmed smoking crack cocaine and arrested. Shortly
afterward, Barry entered the Hanley-Hazelden Cen-
ter in West Palm Beach, Florida, for treatment for
health concerns that included alcohol abuse. Barry
and his press secretary were silent about any cocaine
abuse. A planned absence of a month stretched to
seven weeks when Barry transferred from Hanley-
Hazelden to Fenwick Hall, a drug-treatment facility
in South Carolina.
On February 15, Barry was indicted on three fel-
ony counts of lying to a grand jury about his drug use
and on five misdemeanor counts of cocaine posses-
sion. African American newspapers and radio shows
portrayed the mayor as the victim of a white federal
conspiracy to dethrone him. The FBI came under se-
vere attack for using heavy-handed tactics to entrap
Barry. Meanwhile, the white-controlled media, nota-
blyThe Washington Post, bashed Barry in editorials
and daily exposés of the criminal investigation.
Barry abandoned his reelection plans after convic-
tion on a misdemeanor. He served six months in
prison.The Nineties in America Barry, Marion 81