It might be Paul Laurence Dunbar, an African American writer from more than 100 years ago. But it also might be another writer that did her work closer to the present - Erma Bombeck.
If there was ever a woman of the Sixties who displayed that housewives had untapped potential, Bombeck was it. She spent 10 years as a full-time homemaker, more or less, but had the chance to write some humor columns for the local Dayton newspaper. They caught on, and became nationally syndicated in almost no time. By 1969, 500 newspapers were printing her columns.
From there, books and speaking engagements followed, and she and her husband moved to Phoenix. Eventually Bombeck was a regular on "Good Morning America," and even tried to write and produce television shows. Bombeck was the Grand Marshall of the Tournament of Roses Parade in 1986.
However, she about out to coming to the end of a long battle with a genetic disease. Bombeck eventually lost the use of both kidneys, and when a transplant didn't take she died in 1996. Bombeck was returned to Dayton for burial; the large rock in the background is from the Phoenix area.
I'm not sure how her gentle wit would play today, but this funny lady deserves to be remembered.
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