If you are addicted to your daily dose of Dave Barry, get ready to detox. The popular humor columnist is taking a break after 20 years of writing his widely-syndicated column. Barry, 57, has announced an indefinite leave of absence which will begin in January. He has said he might return in a year. While working, Barry has managed to publish more than two dozen popular books without missing a week of work. Barry's column, which originates in the Miami Herald, has won him a Pulitzer Prize for commentary and was the only humor writer to ever receive the honor.

'I've never not had a column in a week in all of 30 years, even when I went on vacation,' Barry said, according to the Washington Post. '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.''

Part of Barry's decision may be due to the extremely busy schedule he kept during the summer. He attended both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions as well as the Olympic in Athens, Greece. He also went out on a book tour.

Barry has said he wants to spend more time with his family and that he plans to remain in South Florida. He may still write for the Herald on occasion and will continue to work on several book projects as well as a film adaptation of his book , 'Dave Barry's Complete Guide to Guys,' which stars John Cleese and Barry himself.