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Dave Barry To Quit Column

Pulitzer Prize-winning humorist Dave Barry said he plans to take an indefinite leave of absence from The Miami Herald starting in January.

Barry, 57, said Tuesday he wants to spend more time with his family after a hectic summer covering the Democratic and Republican national conventions and the Athens Olympics. He said he may return in 2006.

His weekly column in the Herald is carried by 500 newspapers across the United States.

"I've never not had a column in a week in all of 30 years, even when I went on vacation," Barry said. "At some point I said, 'Well, maybe it'll be OK to not do it for a while.' And I didn't want to wait until I hated it and I didn't want to wait until I thought, 'Oh, I've got no more columns to write."'

Tom Fiedler, the Herald's executive editor, said Barry's columns will be missed.

"His unique sense of humor never grew up and never got old," Fiedler said.

Barry, who joined the Herald full time in 1983 and won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary five years later, said he will continue writing humor and children's books. He also plans to finish filming the adaptation of his book "Dave Barry's Complete Guide to Guys," starring John Cleese and Barry as himself.

Barry is married to Herald sports writer Michelle Kauffman and has a 4-year-old daughter, Sophie.

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