topics of humor writing, human-interest writing, the publishing process, marketing for authors, and blogging, among other areas. Past keynote speakers have included Art Buchwald, Nancy Cartwright, Dave Barry, Garrison Keillor, Mike Peters, Bil Keane and Phil Donahue. More than 350 writers from around the country attend each workshop, which is held on the University of Dayton campus. In 2004, University of Dayton alumnus Ralph Hamberg and his wife, Cindy, gave a $100,000 gift to start an endowment fund for the workshop, in memory of her cousin, Tom Price, a University of Dayton English professor who told Bombeck, "You can write!" The endowment helps keep the workshop affordable for writers. In addition, the University of Dayton's Alumni Association underwrites the cost of scholarships that allow University of Dayton students to attend for free. The workshop has spawned a blog, Humorwriters.org; a documentary produced by ThinkTV and distributed nationally through American Public Television; an international writing competition hosted by the Washington-Centerville Public Library; an Ohio historical marker on the University of Dayton's campus; a monthly e-newsletter; a Facebook page; a Twitter feed; and an active online discussion group. In 2006, the workshop created the world's longest Mad Lib. In 2010, CBS Sunday Morning With Charles Osgood aired a Mother's Day tribute to Bombeck, using the workshop as a backdrop. In 2013, AAA Journeys magazine traced Dayton's literary heritage and pointed to the University of Dayton's efforts to keep Bombeck's legacy alive through a workshop in her name. In 2014, Parade magazine featured a series of pieces about the workshop and Bombeck's enduring appeal. A Chinese language translation of one of her works about her stepfather Albert Harris, "Father's Love" (), is included as one of the sixty oral reading passages in China's Putonghua Proficiency Test. Awards and honors 1978, Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement 1980, Ohio Women's Hall of Fame 2018, Arizona Women's Hall of Fame References Skow, John (July 2, 1984). "Erma in Bomburbia". Time. "Erma Bombeck". Encarta. 2009. External links Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop Erma Bombeck Collection Online Erma Bombeck Writing Competition Erma Bombeck: Legacy of Laughter PBS documentary narrated by Phil Donahue "How Erma Copes". Time cover. 1927 births 1996 deaths 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American women writers American women columnists American humorists Women humorists Dayton Daily News University of Dayton alumni Converts to Roman Catholicism Burials at Woodland Cemetery and