Erma Bombeck Writing Competition is now open!
Competition closes February 17, 2014 at 8 A.M. (EST)
Capture the essence of Erma’s writings and you could win $500 and a free registration to the Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop!
Personal essay must be 450 words or less. Submission guidelines click here.
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Kathy Myers
I can’t look at Erma without remembering my mother. She would put her feet up on the coffee table, tug the pink plastic rollers out of her hair, and read aloud Bombeck’s column— always hitting the mark capturing Erma’s sardonic character. It was fun to see her so tickled.
Mom could write well, and appreciated good humor writing. At the age of 60 she took medical transcription classes at the J.C, and was encouraged by her instructor to apply for a job. Her competition would be much younger,so she touched up her roots, assumed the sassy persona of Erma, and used her writing skill and sense of humor to get her foot in the door with the interviewer. At the top of her resume in large letters under her name, she wrote; AGE: 59… PLEASE READ ON! She hooked them with her lead, and got the job.
It was a good thing too. Six months later my father died suddenly. Mom had an occupation to distract her,and a new circle of friends to support her in her grief. And she always knew she could rely on Erma’s essays for a much needed chuckle now and then. Sometimes you just have to laugh.
“I have entered an essay into the contest. I was intimidated by checking the “global” location box. That’s a lot of literary competition vying for a fabulous trip to Dayton Ohio. Oh well…,” as mom might say, “sometimes you just have to try.”