The Resume

(February 21, 1927-April 22, 1996)
Birth name was Erma Louis Fiste
Wrote the syndicated newspaper column ‘At Wit's End'
Author of ‘The Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank,' ‘Just Wait Till You Have Children,' ‘I Lost Everything in the Post-Natal Depression' and ‘If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits?'

Why she might be annoying:

Her first newspaper job was writing obituaries.
She found motherhood exhausting.
She was known as the voice of the American housewife.
She wrote and produced the television series ‘Maggie' which was cancelled after eight weeks.

Why she might not be annoying:

She worked two full time jobs to pay for university.
She had a degree in English.
She adopted her first child after being told she'd never have children, only to have two more children naturally.
She left her first job as a newspaper columnist to raise her children.
She took a huge risk writing columns poking fun at motherhood and housework in a time when women were praised for enjoying the drudgery of their life.
She was a breast cancer survivor.
She died of complications after having a kidney transplant.

Credit: Tina

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• About.com Top 100 Women of History [2009] (Ranked: 86)
• Civil Rights Activists
• Good Housekeeping Magazine's Most Admired Women - 12 [1981] (Ranked: 10)
• Good Housekeeping Magazine's Most Admired Women - 13 [1982] (Ranked: 10)
• Good Housekeeping Magazine's Most Admired Women - 25 [1994] (Ranked: 10)
• Good Housekeeping Magazine's Most Admired Women - 27 [1996] (Ranked: 6)
• I Adopted a Child
• I Appeared on Jerry Lewis' MDA Telethon [A-B]
• I Died in 1996 (Ranked: 69)
• I Died on Earth Day [April 22] (Ranked: 1996)
• I Have a New Kidney
• I Have Breast Cancer
• I was a Girl Scout
• I Was the Rose Parade Grand Marshall (Ranked: 1986)
• Irish Setter Owners
• Look at Me, I Got a Microphone
• Newspaper Journalists/Editors/Publishers
• Profiles 17001-17250 (Ranked: 17198)

Year In Review:

For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 4 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2023, Out of 7 Votes: 28.57% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 15 Votes: 53.33% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 13 Votes: 53.85% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 5 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 35 Votes: 34.29% Annoying
In 2014, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2013, Out of 16 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2012, Out of 17 Votes: 29.41% Annoying
In 2011, Out of 11 Votes: 45.45% Annoying
In 2010, Out of 40 Votes: 42.50% Annoying
In 2009, Out of 31 Votes: 45.16% Annoying
In 2008, Out of 38 Votes: 47.37% Annoying
In 2007, Out of 130 Votes: 43.85% Annoying
In 2006, Out of 250 Votes: 45.20% Annoying