蜜柚直播

It was Erma Bombeck鈥檚 fault.

Bombeck, who lived in Paradise Valley, wrote a humor column about family from the mid-1960s to shortly before her death in 1996. She is the subject of 蜜柚直播 Theatre Company鈥檚 鈥淓rma Bombeck: At Wit鈥檚 End,鈥� which opens in previews Saturday, Oct. 20.

She would drop such pearls as 鈥淗ousework, if you do it right, will kill you.鈥� And 鈥淣ever accept a drink from a urologist.鈥� Or 鈥淣ever lend your car to anyone to whom you have given birth.鈥�

She was syndicated in 900 newspapers around the country, and her books became bestsellers.

But back in the column鈥檚 heyday, her daughter, Betsy Bombeck, then a teen, thought she was just occasionally funny.

鈥淭here was a lot of laughter in our house,鈥� she recalled in a phone interview. 鈥淢y father had a dry sense of humor, my mother was witty. But there鈥檚 the fact that she was my mother.鈥�

Age has improved that, said Besty Bombeck.

鈥淎s I鈥檝e grown older, and grown without her, I see the humor more,鈥� she said.

Betsy and her siblings often inspired what her mother wrote. Bombeck recalls how her mother autographed one of her books for her brother: 鈥淚f you see yourself in here, I have a lawyer.鈥�

鈥淪he needed us,鈥� Betsy Bombeck said. 鈥淪he wouldn鈥檛 have been as funny without us.鈥�

Playwrights Margaret and Allison Engel sought out Bombeck family members when they began to write the script for the play.

鈥淥ur family, including my dad, met with them and we had some input as to what we would like to see,鈥� Bombeck said.

In addition to being a bestselling author and a must-read columnist, Erma Bombeck was a vocal supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment. That was an important part of her life, her daughter said.

The family wanted to be sure the play would portray Erma Bombeck fully.

And Betsy Bombeck says it has.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 an important play,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t lets people know who she was, it brings up the political stuff she was involved in, and I think it鈥檚 funny.鈥�