Tim Bete is an Catholic American poet, author, copywriter and former newspaper columnist. He is founder of the Catholic Poetry Room feature at IntegratedCatholicLife.org and also of CatholicPoetry.org.
Bete is author of the poetry collections, The Raw Stillness of Heaven (2017), and Wanderings of an Ordinary Pilgrim (2019). He is also poetry editor for the Catholic Poetry Room.
Bete has written two award-winning humor books, In The Beginning...There Were No Diapers (2005) and Guide to Pirate Parenting (2009). He is former director of the [[Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop]] at the [[University of Dayton]], which featured prominent authors including Dave Barry, Garrison Keillor, Craig Wilson, Jill Conner Browne, Nancy Cartwright and Bruce Cameron. During his time with the workshop, he set the record for creating the world's longest Mad Lib.
Bete also created the Erma Bombeck Online Museum with the help of the Bombeck family. Bete was a consultant and is featured in the public television documentary, A Legacy of Laughter, which is about the life of Erma Bombeck. The program has aired on more than 300 public TV stations across the country. Bete has been quoted as a humor expert in USA Today, BBC radio and the Associated Press.
During his career Bete has won more than a dozen national awards for communications excellence, including an Educational Press Association Editorial Achievement Award and a Gold Apple from the National Educational Film Festival. He has been a speaker at many conferences and workshops including the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. Bete also served as chair of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati's Communication Advisory Board and co-chair of the 2018 OCDS Congress.