Danny Tyree

Are you suffering from critic fatigue?

Tyrades! by Danny Tyree Honestly, I’m glad when schools delve into poetry or offer students some semblance of art and music appreciation classes. But I worry about society’s overreliance on critics, reviewers, and public scolds. Apparently, we w..
Have you forgotten the lessons of Passover?

Tyrades! by Danny Tyree Even people who don’t celebrate Passover have been exposed to lessons from the Exodus (if only through Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments”), but some of us retain water better than we retain the significance of ..
Are you excited about the U.S. time capsule?

Tyrades! by Danny Tyree Certainly, I look forward to becoming reacquainted with all the groovy hairstyles, dated slang and kitschy doodads in a couple of years when my high school classmates open our 50-year time capsule. But I suspect most patrioti..
Ready for random thoughts on life and death?

Tyrades! by Danny Tyree Blame it on Daylight Saving Time discombobulating my circadian rhythm, but a smorgasbord of random thoughts has swirled in my noggin recently. I suspect other folks have something different in mind when they boast, “Livin�..
Are you rushing the spring season?

Tyrades! by Danny Tyree I have a certain fondness for springtime (I like cutting back on propane usage and I cherish my wife’s pre-spring ritual of photographing our son in front of our daffodils), but I don’t go hog wild and pig crazy. For inst..
What is your family motto?

Tyrades! by Danny Tyree “Per Ardua.” It really rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it? According to internet sources devoted to family crests, coats of arms and surname histories, the Tyree family motto is Latin for “through difficulties.” There..
More pencils? More books? More teacher’s dirty looks?

Tyrades! by Danny Tyree Is it time for the educational system to go “old school” again? According to NBC News, concerned parents nationwide are rebelling against the heavy reliance on laptops and tablets by school districts. These parents are ch..
Do we expect too much from our dogs?

Tyrades! by Danny Tyree “Lean on me/When you’re not strong/And I’ll be your friend/I’ll help you carry your Frisbee.” - apologies to Bill Withers. I was intrigued by a recent article by Margret Grebowicz, a philosophy professor at Missouri..
Is ‘hot take dating’ right for you?
Tyrades! by Danny Tyree “You don’t have to tell your guts!” My mother’s colorful phrase for practicing verbal restraint would be mocked by proponents of the viral dating trend called “hot take dating.” Once upon a time, people in the dat..
Are you satisfied with your height?

Tyrades! by Danny Tyree “There was shrinkage! Shrinkage!” - George Costanza For years, my various physicians let me skate by. I would dutifully (if trepidatiously) hop onto the scales for my weight assessment, but I was allowed to fudge on my Bo..
Ready for a hotel on the moon?
Tyrades! by Danny Tyree “Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me. They brunch with little green men.” - apologies to F. Scott Fitzgerald. According to the New York Post, a Silicon Valley startup company called GRU..
They still make TV commercials, don’t they?
Tyrades! by Danny Tyree I’m starting to realize that the faces I recognize in obituaries are outnumbering the new friends I make. And all my favorite TV commercials are locked in the distant past. Sure, I recognize Flo from the Progressive Insuran..

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Controversial author Harlan Ellison once described the work of Danny Tyree as "wonkily extrapolative" and said Tyree's mind "works like a demented cuckoo clock."

Ellison was speaking primarily of Tyree’s 1983-2000 stint on the "Dan T’s Inferno" column for “Comics Buyer’s Guide” hobby magazine, but the description would also fit his weekly "Tyree’s Tyrades" column for mainstream newspapers.

Inspired by Dave Barry, Al "Li'l Abner" Capp, Lewis Grizzard, David Letterman, and "Saturday Night Live," "Tyree's Tyrades" has been taking a humorous look at politics and popular culture since 1998.

Tyree has written on topics as varied as Rent-A-Friend.com, the Lincoln bicentennial, "Woodstock At 40," worm ranching, the Vatican conference on extraterrestrials, violent video games, synthetic meat, the decline of soap operas, robotic soldiers, the nation's first marijuana café, Sen. Joe Wilson’s "You lie!" outburst at President Obama, Internet addiction, "Is marriage obsolete?," electronic cigarettes, 8-minute sermons, early puberty, the Civil War sesquicentennial, Arizona's immigration law, the 50th anniversary of the Andy Griffith Show, armed teachers, "Are women smarter than men?," Archie Andrews' proposal to Veronica, 2012 and the Mayan calendar, ACLU school lawsuits, cutbacks at ABC News, and the 30th anniversary of the death of John Lennon.

Tyree generated a particular buzz on the Internet with his column spoofing real-life Christian nudist camps.

Most of the editors carrying "Tyree’s Tyrades" keep it firmly in place on the opinion page, but the column is very versatile. It can also anchor the lifestyles section or float throughout the paper.

Nancy Brewer, assistant editor of the "Lawrence County (TN) Advocate" says she "really appreciates" what Tyree contributes to the paper. Tyree has appeared in Tennesee newspapers continuously since 1998.

Tyree is a lifelong small-town southerner. He graduated from Middle Tennessee State University in 1982 with a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications. In addition to writing the weekly "Tyree’s Tyrades," he writes freelance articles for MegaBucks Marketing of Elkhart, Indiana.

Tyree wears many hats (but still falls back on that lame comb-over). He is a warehousing and communications specialist for his hometown farmers cooperative, a church deacon, a comic book collector, a husband (wife Melissa is a college biology teacher), and a late-in-life father. (Six-year-old son Gideon frequently pops up in the columns.)

Bringing the formerly self-syndicated "Tyree's Tyrades" to Cagle Cartoons is part of Tyree's mid-life crisis master plan. Look for things to get even crazier if you use his columns.