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A humor columnist (and social and political commentator), Buchwald found fame in Paris after World War II, and then in Washington D.C. There, writing for the Washington Post, his column was syndicated to as many as 500 newspapers, and won a Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 1982. "The joy of his column was not that it was side-splitting humor," said former Post editor Ben Bradlee, "but that he made you smile." In February, when his doctors told him he was dying, Buchwald went into a hospice -- but came out when his body didn't fail as quickly as doctors predicted. By then news of his health had broken out. "The French ambassador gave me the literary equivalent of the Legion of Honor," Buchwald said. "The National Hospice Association made me man of the year. I never realized dying was so much fun." When he did die, he announced it himself in a video, which he made for the New York Times in July: "Hi! I'm Art Buchwald, and I just died!" He did so January 17 from kidney failure. He was 81. From This is True for 14 January 2007 Suggestions for further reading:
 By: Art Buchwald List Price: $17.95 Amazon Price: $12.21 Editorial Review: When doctors told Art Buchwald that his kidneys were kaput, the renowned humorist declined dialysis and checked into a Washington, D.C., hospice to live out his final days. Months later, “The Man Who Wouldn’t Die” was still there, feeling good, holding court in a nonstop “salon” for his family and dozens of famous friends, and confronting things you usually don’t talk about before you die; he even jokes about them. Here Buchwald shares not only his remarkable experience–as dozens of old pals from Ethel Kennedy to John Glenn to the Queen of Swaziland join the party–but also his whole wonderful life: his first love, an early brush with death in a foxhole on Eniwetok Atoll, his fourteen champagne years in Paris, fame as a columnist syndicated in hundreds of newspapers, and his incarnation as hospice superstar. Buchwald also shares his sorrows: coping with an absent mother, childhood in a foster home, and separation from his wife, Ann. He plans his funeral (with a priest, a rabbi, and Billy Graham, to cover all the bases) and strategizes how to land a big obituary in The New York Times (“Make sure no head of state or Nobel Prize winner dies on the same day”). He describes how he and a few of his famous friends finagled cut-rate burial plots on Martha’s Vineyard and how he acquired a Picasso drawing without really trying. What we have here is a national treasure, the complete Buchwald, uncertain of where the next days or weeks may take him but unfazed by the inevitable, living life to the fullest, with frankness, dignity, and humor. “[Art Buchwald] has given his friends, their families, and his audiences so many laughs and so much joy through the years that that alone would be an enduring legacy. But Art has never been just about the quick laugh. His humor is a road map to essential truths and insights that might otherwise have eluded us.” –Tom Brokaw  By: Suzette Martinez Standring List Price: $18.95 Amazon Price: $12.89 Editorial Review: Featuring some of the most famous columnists in the business, this guide reveals the secrets to becoming a syndicated newspaper columnist, through both the author's own experiences and anecdotes from the respected writers who excel in their craft. From finding topics, to digging up information, and ultimately writing a column that makes people think, laugh, or cry, all the wisdom necessary to write opinion, humor, and insight columns is clearly presented in this in-depth manual.  By: Art Buchwald List Price: $17.95 Amazon Price: $14.00 Editorial Review: "Buchwald has single-handedly restored humor to contemporary journalism."-Los Angeles Times "Quite simply, the funniest US newspaper columnist published today and one of the nation's sharpest political satirists."-Newsweek "Buchwald is a pitiless chronicler of human folly, particularly as it manifests itself in public officials; the targets of his satire are pretension, inconsistency, and hypocrisy. He makes his readers laugh out loud, then leaves them wondering whether what they laughed at might not equally well have made them weep."-Library Journal Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post columnist Art Buchwald returns undaunted to examine the ridiculous people and preposterous events that we call our daily reality. With an introduction by Garry Trudeau, Beating Around the Bush collects Buchwald's recent columns, in which his satirical voice darts at politicians, power, corporations, and the media without pause. A self-described troublemaker, Buchwald continues to represent the great American traits of skepticism, humor, and a refusal to compromise in the face of absurdity. Now revised and updated with new columns.  By: Suzette Martinez Standring List Price: $9.95 Amazon Price: $7.96 Editorial Review: Featuring some of the most famous columnists in the business, this guide reveals the secrets to becoming a syndicated newspaper columnist, through both the author's own experiences and anecdotes from the respected writers who excel in their craft. From finding topics, to digging up information, and ultimately writing a column that makes people think, laugh, or cry, all the wisdom necessary to write opinion, humor, and insight columns is clearly presented in this in-depth manual. "I never thought anyone could write a book that would really teach someone else how to be a newspaper columnist. Boy, was I wrong. Suzette Martinez Standring has pulled it offâ€"and with flair." â€"Bill Tammeus, The Kansas City Star Suzette Martinez Standring is a syndicated humor columnist and features writer whose work appears in The Boston Globe, the Milton Times, The Patriot Ledger, and other publications. She was voted best columnist by the readership of the Milton Times in 2003 and has been featured on Boston's NPR station.  By: Art Buchwald List Price: $19.00 Amazon Price: $19.00 Editorial Review: Art Buchwald's delightful romp through 1948 Paris is a witty tribute to the city he fell in love with. Existing on the GI Bill's munificence (until he's docked for skipping school and must work for the Herald Tribune instead), Buchwald recounts his youthful quest to become a great writer. He tells of when he met Hemingway (who asked if he'd ever wrestled a bear), lauds the pissoir as one of France's most civilized monuments, pays tribute to the café life, and writes of his hobnobs with James Thurber, Gregory Corso, Lauren Bacall, and Lena Horne (who found the priest who married him to Ann). From his Montparnasse garret to his induction by the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin, he's a consummate storyteller, and his Paris is a witty gift."ART BUCHWALD DOES IT AGAIN. . . . A GREAT READ." --Larry King, USA Today In 1948, an American innocent named Art Buchwald set sail for Paris, France, determined to crash Hemingway's moveable feast and make himself famous. What's more, he did it. Now he remembers those golden years--when he wrote for the Paris Herald Tribune, fell in love, spoofed Hemingway, dined with gangsters, and crashed costume balls in Venice. Everything that has made Buchwald one of the world's best-loved writers is in this funny, enchanting, poignant book. "HONEST AND MOVING . . . A CONSUMMATE STORYTELLER." --The New York Times Book Review "ROLLICKING . . . The book gallops and gambols along. . . . Buchwald is a master of the anecdote." --The Baltimore Sun |
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