Newswise — Alexander may have had a "Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day," but Maryland´s Gliner Humor Center has decided to make March 11 a very happy day for author Judith Viorst. She is the fourth recipient of the Center´s annual humor award for having made a real contribution to society through humor.
Art Gliner, who created the Humor Center at Maryland, says Viorst´s humor helps people get through their daily lives. It is real and down-to-earth because "she is highlighting the human condition and everyone can identify with that," he says.
Humor Center Director Larry Mintz points to Viorst´s groundbreaking use of humor to give a perspective on aging (for example - "It's Harder to Be Frisky Over Sixty" and "The Blissful Couple"). "As the baby boomers age," he says, "we can appreciate that more."
Judith Viorst, who lives in Washington, D.C., came onto the national scene in 1972 with the publication of her book about a young boy's terrible day. Based on the experiences of her third son, the book has become a favorite of young and old alike. More than two million copies have been sold, and it has even been turned into a musical.
Viorst began working at her craft as a young girl. But even she admits her efforts were not always successful:
When, at age seven, I started writing (unsuccessfully) for publication, my first poem was an ode to my dead parents, who at that point were alive and well and very annoyed about my bumping them off in verse. For many, many years after that, my writings were populated with dead bodies, dead soldiers, dead dogs, once an entire dead family, on the grounds that a poem couldn´t really be a poem unless it had a corpse in it. I was very influenced by my mother´s favorite poem, Poe´s "Annabel Lee." It was only after I married that I started bringing humor into my writing, sparked by the fact that there are those moments in married life when the only choice is homicide or laughter - and it´s better to laugh.
The fourth annual Gliner Humor Award will be presented to Ms. Viorst in Washington, DC., during an award reception March 11 at the National Press Club´s Holeman Lounge starting at 6 p.m.
On the web at: http://newsdesk.umd.edu/culture/release.cfm?ArticleID=880
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