[Missouri-l] tonight's Books And Beyond

[Nancy Lynn]

On tonight's Books And Beyond, we will speak with internet humor columnist 
Melvin Durai about his life and his writing career. How does humor translate 
from one culture to another? Do we all laugh at the same things?
To participate in the taping of the show, call 218-844-3388 at a little 
before 8pm US eastern time tonight. When asked for the access code, enter 
26657 pound. You will be muted until it's your turn to ask a question. To 
unmute yourself, press star six on your touchtone phone, but wait till you 
are called on. Bonnie will conduct the first part of the interview and then 
open it up for audience participation. This will all be explained again 
before the show starts.
Now see below for a little more information about our guest. This should 
help you form some good questions.

            Melvin Durai is an India-born, North America-based writer and 
humorist. His humor columns, acclaimed for being both funny and 
thought-provoking, have appeared in dozens of newspapers and magazines in 
several countries. An award-winning feature writer, Melvin also distributes 
his weekly columns through an email list that reaches thousands of people in 
more than 90 countries, including a few countries Melvin is still trying to 
find on the map.



      NRIworld.com named Melvin a "Trendsetter" for his "outstanding talent" 
for humor writing, describing him as a humorist "who's not only able to see 
the lighter side of almost everything, but can also put his insights into 
the most readable and side-splitting anecdotes."

      Femina Online wrote that Melvin "regularly writes some of the funniest 
quips you'll find" and is best not read at work "because your boss is bound 
to get suspicious when you laugh out loud instead of crunching numbers."

      Melvin was born in the town of Tisaiyanvillai, in the southern state 
of Tamil Nadu, India, and spent much of his childhood learning how to 
pronounce "Tisaiyanvillai". (He still hasn't quite got the hang of it.)

      He grew up in Zambia, Central Africa, where he attended Kansenshi 
Primary and Secondary Schools in Ndola, and Kamwala Secondary School in 
Lusaka. Both his parents, Mrs. Hepzy Durai and the late I.V. Durai, were 
math teachers and, as a result, Melvin grew up hating math.

      Melvin moved to the U.S. for college in 1982. He attended Messiah 
College in Grantham, Pennsylvania, where he double-majored in Accounting and 
Natural Science, giving him the unique ability to file tax returns for 
hamsters. Then he earned an MBA from York College of Pennsylvania, before 
following his heart and enrolling in the journalism program at Towson State 
University in Maryland. He loved it and did well enough to land a job at the 
Chambersburg, Pa., Public Opinion, the best and most widely read newspaper 
in the entire town of Chambersburg. (Motto: We're better than that rag in 
Waynesboro.)

      He was a business reporter for three years and a general assignment 
reporter for another three, writing about everything from the "Best Cow" at 
the county fair to the "Best Pig" at the state fair. He especially enjoyed 
writing feature stories and won two first-place feature writing awards in 
the Best of Gannett contest, as well as an Outstanding Achievement in 
Writing Award in 1998, earning himself half as much adulation in the county 
as the "Best Cow."

      In early 1994, on a whim, Melvin wrote a humor column about women 
wearing men's underwear as tops. He was amazed by the positive response, not 
realizing that people outside the newsroom read the editorial page. In 1995, 
he began writing the column every week and found that he enjoyed it 
tremendously. He hopes to write humor for the rest of his life, or as long 
as his wife lets him.

      In 2001, Melvin completed his third master's degree, in English, from 
Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania, where he wrote three short stories 
for his thesis. One of his stories, "Salvation," was published by The 
Minnesota Review, a literary magazine, causing much laughter in the literary 
world.

      His lovely wife, Malathi Raghavan, is a doctor of veterinary medicine 
and research scientist, a very smart woman who somehow agreed to marry him 
on Oct. 7, 2000, proving to her colleagues that she is committed to animal 
husbandry. They are the proud parents of two daughters, Lekha and Divya, and 
a son, Rahul. They currently live in Winnipeg, Canada.

      Melvin's mother, a longtime teacher in Zambia and Transkei, South 
Africa, retired in 1997 and lives in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, with his 
sister, Irene.


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