Erma Bombeck's smiling face is in the heart of the University of Dayton campus on a historical marker from the Ohio Bicentennial Commission and Ohio Historical Society. The Erma Bombeck Papers in the University of Dayton’s Roesch Library contain original manuscripts, columns, interviews and memorabilia. Each year, the Department of English runs a "You Can Write!" creative writing retreat for UD students from all majors.
The marker, located outside St. Mary's Hall, was part of a program to highlight significant Ohio people and places for the state's 2003 bicentennial. Bombeck, a 1949 UD alumna, is among the University's most famous graduates.
Bombeck credited the University of Dayton with launching her writing career. Her syndicated column, "At Wit's End," appeared in more than 900 newspapers. She wrote more than 4,500 columns and 12 books, nine of which made The New York Times' Bestseller List. Bombeck also appeared regularly on ABC's Good Morning America for 11 years. She was still writing her column for Universal Press Syndicate and developing a new book for HarperCollins Publishers when she died from complications of a kidney transplant on April 22, 1996.
Today, the University of Dayton's College of Arts and Sciences and Alumni Association co-sponsor the biennial Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop, which draws UD students and hundreds of aspiring and professional humor and human interest writers from across the country.
The University honors Erma's legacy in other ways, too. The workshop created the Erma Bombeck Online Museum, co-sponsors a popular writing competition with the Washington-Centerville Public Library and launched an unconventional writer's residency — A Hotel Room of One's Own: the Erma Bombeck Humorist-in-Residence Program. The Bombeck Family Learning Center, an early childhood education demonstration school on campus, is named for the Bombeck family.
Erma Bombeck's Books
- At Wit's End (Fawcett, 1967)
- Just Wait Til You Have Children of Your Own, co-written with Family Circus cartoonist Bil Keane (Doubleday, 1971)
- I Lost Everything in the Post-natal Depression (Doubleday, 1973)
- The Grass Is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank (McGraw-Hill, 1976)
- If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits? (McGraw-Hill, 1979)
- Aunt Erma's Cope Book: How to Get from Monday to Friday — in 12 Days (McGraw-Hill, 1979)
- Motherhood, the Second Oldest Profession (McGraw-Hill, 1983)
- Family: The Ties That Bind — and Gag! (McGraw-Hill, 1987)
- I Want to Grow Hair, I want to Grow Up, I Want to Go to Boise: Children Surviving Cancer (Harper & Row, 1989)
- When You Look Like Your Passport Photo, It's Time to Go Home (HarperCollins, 1991)
- A Marriage Made in Heaven or Too Tired for An Affair (HarperCollins, 1993)
- All I Know About Animal Behavior I Learned in Loehmann's Dressing Room (HarperCollins, 1995)
- Forever Erma: Best-Loved Writing from America's Favorite Humorist (Andrews McMeel, 1997)*
- Eat Less Cottage Cheese and More Ice Cream (Andrews McMeel, 2003)*
* Posthumous
Our Contact Information
Looking for information on submitting pieces for our blog? Want to know how to nominate a Humor Writer of the Month? Interested in being a workshop presenter? Check out our how to information!
- Web: go.udayton.edu/erma
- Email: erma@udayton.edu
- Facebook: facebook.com/ermabombeck
- Threads: @ermabombeckwritersworkshop
- X: @ebww
- Instagram: instagram.com/ermabombeckwritersworkshop
- YouTube: BombeckWorkshop
Our Team
Teri Rizvi
Founder and Co-Director
Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop
University of Dayton
300 College Park
Dayton, OH 45469-1520
erma@udayton.edu
Sarah Alice Keiser
Event Operations Manager
University of Dayton
300 College Park
Dayton, OH 45469-1520
skeiser1@udayton.edu
Shannon Miller
Co-Director
University of Dayton
300 College Park
Dayton, OH 45469-1323
smiller6@udayton.edu
Natasha Baker
Director, The Virtual Erma
University of Dayton
300 College Park
Dayton, OH 45469-1410
nbaker1@udayton.edu
Debe Dockins
Coordinator, Erma Bombeck Writing Competition
Washington-Centerville Public Library
111 W. Spring Valley Rd.
Centerville, OH 45458
937-610-4429
ddockins@wcpl.lib.oh.us