Tuesday, March 26, 2019

Did an editor at the Post really misspell Dave Barry’s last name?


The answer is Yes!

But not once. Four times. Not joking.


CORRECTION

Because of an editing error, a story in Wednesday’s [Nov. 28th] Post misspelled author and columnist Dave Barry’s name. The brief appeared on Page B3 in the Local section.


And it gets worse. It was a story in the Post about an event sponsored by The Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County kicking off the event, “Read Together Palm Beach County”.

It sounds like a joke, right. 

This is no joke. 

And Mr. Ben Kerr, PIO, is a part of this story too. And kudos to The Palm Beach Post. It was because of the Post the position on PIO became an essential function in the first place.

Mr. Kerr is the City’s public information officer. Briefly, how Mr. Kerr became the City’s PIO is an interesting one. Post reporter Joe Capozzi penned a fascinating article about Kerr but prior to that, back in 2016, it was another Post reporter that ended up creating the need for a public information officer in the first place. Read all about that by clicking on this link.

Gee wiz! How does any newspaper editor refer to Dave Barry as “Dave Berry”!

Well, let’s delve into that topic.

Before we get to ‘Dave Berry’ Kerr penned a column about the contest called, “Best. Municipality. Ever.” Lake Worth City Manager Michael Bornstein was the contest winner. A huge honor for both Bornstein and this City of Lake Worth.

This contest was one created by author and Pulitzer Prize winning satirist Dave Barry. Barry is the author of the wildly popular book titled,

Best. State. Ever. A Florida Man
Defends His Homeland.

Learn more about this long-time best-selling book below.

The Best. Municipality. Ever. contest was held at the Harriet Himmel Theater. An event organized by The Literacy Coalition. In the Post story themed “Read Together Palm Beach County” Dave Barry’s last name was misspelled.

Four times.

Unbelievable. Don’t think the good folks at the Literacy Coalition were amused at all.

Let us move on to the story published by The Lake Worth Herald by Kerr and headlined,

Lake Worth Wins Best. Municipality. Ever. Contest



Lake Worth’s City Manager, Michael Bornstein, submitted an entry to the Read Together Palm Beach County “Best. Municipality. Ever.” essay contest last month and on Wednesday, Nov. 28, his essay was announced as the winner.

After the awards ceremony, Mayor Triolo said that “working with the City Manager on this was so much fun! He truly captured the spirit of our City and its people, and our beautiful diversity and quirkiness with humor. And it’s true, if Dave Barry was a city, he’d be Lake Worth!”

This contest gave the City an opportunity to showcase what makes Lake Worth such a special place to live. Mayor Triolo, Vice Mayor Amoroso and Commissioner Robinson joined the City Manager to record a special reading of the essay [see video below] for all to enjoy and share.

As we embark on the holidays it is a perfect time to remember what makes Lake Worth, and all the friends and neighbors who form the Lake Worth community, the Best. Municipality. Ever!

Enjoy the video!


And following this video learn more about Dave Barry’s award-winning book “Best. State. Ever.” and that very unfortunate typo in the Post.






Remember, the irony here is this ‘news’ is about an event sponsored by the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County’s “Read Together Palm Beach County”. About that event at the Harriet Himmel Theater here is an excerpt published in the Post:


The title selected for the 2018 “Read Together,” was bestselling author, columnist and humorist Dave Berry’s “Best. State. Ever. A Florida Man Defends His Homeland.”


Anyhow. The book Best. State. Ever. A Florida Man Defends His Homeland is available on Amazon:


A brilliantly funny exploration of the Sunshine State from the man who knows it best: Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times best-selling author Dave Barry.

We never know what will happen next in Florida. We know only that, any minute now, something will. Every few months, Dave Barry gets a call from some media person wanting to know, “What the hell is wrong with Florida?”


Dave Barry won a Pulitzer Prize and wrote for the Miami Herald for over twenty years. Just wondering, has a ‘satirist’ at the Post ever won a Pulitzer Prize for humor?

From Wikipedia:


David McAlister Barry (born July 3, 1947) is an American author and columnist who wrote a nationally syndicated humor column for the Miami Herald from 1983 to 2005. He has also written numerous books of humor and parody, as well as comic novels. Barry’s honors include the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary (1988) and the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism (2005).