Oscar Herman (1909-1980) was an urban Jewish Will Rogers who never met a man he didn’t like. He made a living by selling shoes and made a life by sharing his humor. Known as the Mayor of “F” street, a major section of Washington D.C. where he lived, he was revered for having friends of all creeds and colors. A generous champion of the neighborhood children, he often led parades of kids through the drug store candy isle, buying each marcher a treat. Impromptu performances of “Singing in the Rain” or “Alabami Bound,” along with hilarious and insightful observations on love, sex, family, and life, were standard fare. Oscar believed the essence of life was connecting with people, and the key to connection was laughter. He was married to his wife Sarah for forty years when he died peacefully in his sleep in 1980. He is missed by the thousands of people whom he touched with his wit and his kindness.
Shawn Gold (1965- ) Shawn lives his life with the same spirit and mission as his grandfather Oscar, helping people to laugh and learn about life. Professionally, he has used his understanding of laughter to build a career in helping people to adjust their attitudes. He developed advertising campaigns for some of Americas best known children’s brands, wrote relationship advice columns for top women’s magazines, and helped to create some of the most popular entertainment sites online. Personally, Shawn is overwhelmed by media and has a short attention span. He is keenly interested in finding the humor in life, thinking about it, and sharing it with others. His goal with The Guide to Laughing series is to convey insightful and amusing commentary with the greatest amount of thought per square word. He is married to photographer Amy Neunsinger, who he refers to as “an amazing human,” and he is profoundly affected by the experience of being a new dad.
Company History
The Guide to Laughing was first proposed in 1972 by Shawn Gold and his grandfather, Oscar Herman, a humorist and shoe salesman from Washington, D.C. Oscar spent his life creating and collecting “insightful observations” that he shared continuously. He was generous with his good spirit and had tremendous impact on all the lives he touched. Shawn Gold, Oscar’s grandson, had a great connection with his grandfather and was inspired by how he lived his life. In the years before his death in 1980, Oscar helped Shawn conceive the Guide to Laughing Institute, to formalize the collection of these insightful and useful observations. Since then, hundreds of influential people: friends, physicians, philosophers, educators, artists, executives, writers and celebrities have contributed to The Guide to Laughing handbooks.
Realizing the mass appeal of the content that had been collected, Shawn Gold began to develop a series of books in 1993. Calling the series, The Guide to Laughing at Life, these books became a unique and powerful way to effectively organize, present and distribute the content. This self-help series of handbooks was created to fill an information need for a mass audience by providing relevant and useful humor in a handy reference. They are designed as an aid to help people discover the lighter side of life’s issues, communicate those findings, and connect with others.
