Dave Barry and Carl Hiaasen. PHOTO BY MARY SCHENKEL

Laughter reverberated throughout the sanctuary of the Community Church of Vero Beach as Dave Barry, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and syndicated columnist, kept an audience of more than 600 people in stitches with his off-the-cuff humor.

The event was a fundraiser for the Laura (Riding) Jackson Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to nurturing local writers of all ages and preserving the historic home of its namesake, Laura (Riding) Jackson. The “cracker-style” house is located on the campus of Indian River State College, behind the Richardson Center.

“Dave and I have been friends for over 40 years,” said Carl Hiaasen, an equally celebrated author/columnist, by way of introduction.

“He’s one of the funniest guys ever and a genuinely nice, genuine person. His first novel, ‘Big Trouble,’ was made into a movie starring Tim Allen and there was a TV comedy show called ‘Dave’s World’ that was based on his life,” Hiaasen added.

“One time Dave wrote a column mocking the city of Grand Forks, North Dakota, and they responded by naming a sewage pumping station after him. And Dave went to the city of Grand Forks for the ceremony because that’s not an honor handed out lightly.”

Once the laughter had subsided, Hiaasen complimented Barry’s musical prowess, commenting that he had formed a band called Rock Bottom Remainders, comprised of a group of famous authors who played various instruments.

“It wasn’t a great band, or a bad band, but we’ve had a lot of people join us, including Carl and Bruce Springsteen,” Barry responded with a grin.

“Carl and I have gotten a lot of great material from Florida and, as Carl said, you don’t need an imagination to be a humor writer in this state. You just need to be a good listener.”

Barry went on to recall how he and Hiaasen once co-authored a song about a woman caught smuggling a small alligator in her yoga pants, adding his now infamous words, “You can’t make this up!”

That set the overall tone for the evening, with Sara Wilson, LRJF executive director and the event’s moderator, posing questions to Barry which were answered with razor sharp wit and spontaneity.

“I’m 77 now and I like to write about my experiences of being a grandparent,” said Barry.
“Being a grandparent is great except when the grandkids want to play on the floor. Because getting down is OK but getting up is a challenge.”

On the other hand, Barry said he prides himself on staying in shape and bragged about still being able to do a pushup. Faced with doubting looks from the audience, he jumped out of the chair and did a full, admirable pushup on stage, much to the delight of the cheering crowd.

The hysterics continued with stories such as stealing a sign from a hotel in order to get on an Oprah Winfrey show, his harebrained idea to place motors on manatees so that they would be on the same playing field as boats, and partying so hard that he couldn’t remember why ‘no spleen’ was written in sharpie on his arm.

There’s a whole other story behind that one, he said, that you “just can’t make up.”

And, of course, the evening would not have been complete without an honorable mention of some of the humorous Christmas gift reviews he made of bizarre and totally useless items, such as a duck butt decoy.

After a fun-filled hour filled with laughter and frivolity, Barry took time to autograph his new book, “Swamp Story,” for his many admirers.

For more information, visit LauraRidingJackson.org.

Photos by Mary Schenkel