'Angela's Ashes' author McCourt dies in NYC at 78

[Drunken Irishman]

Source: Associated Pres

NEW YORK – Irish author Frank McCourt has died of cancer in New York City at age 78.

He was best known for the million-selling "Angela's Ashes," a memoir about his impoverished childhood. The memoir was published in 1996 and won a Pulitzer Prize.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_obit_mccourt

[UndertheOcean]

1. Man. his book really harshed by buzz.

[Solly Mack]

2. May the light of heaven shine on your grave

[Melinda]

3. RIP Mr. McCourt

Talk about challenges and a life well lived. You touched my soul Frank; I'll never forget you and your stories.

[QC]

4. May he rest in peace and rise in glory! n/t

[RayOfHope]

5. Safe passage, Frank McCourt. n/t

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

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[Beacool]

7. I'm sorry to hear about his passing.

From one Irish (well, half) to another:

"May you be in Heaven a half hour before the Devil knows you're dead."

Rest in peace..........

:(

[ellie]

8. RIP Frank

Angela's Ashes was a great book.

[PatSeg]

9. What a loss

So sad.

[Libertas1776]

10. Mr. McCourt

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam. Rest in Peace.

[MurrayDelph]

11. I'm from the West Coast, but had several friends

who had him as their English teacher.

Rest well, Teacher Man. Tonight, we should all "eat ice cream for Ireland" in his memory!

[Bette Noir]

15. Thanks, Murray.

And go swimming for Ireland, too.

[EFerrari]

17. He was really something.

:grouphug:

[adamuu]

12. RIP

[Mari333]

13. now he knows love and peace

and no more sorrow.

[annabanana]

14. He and his brother Malachy.. shanachies of the highest order.

I heard them speak. Their tales were mesmerizing. They involved you emotionally, psychologically and intellectually in a way that I had seldom experienced.

[MaineDem]

19. Totally!

Great storytellers.

[Mermaid7]

16. Frank Mc Court made me know how much

it felt, to want, just a sliver of a boiled egg.

How just a sliver, would taste.

One of the most sad books I have ever read.

Most of us never experienced what he did,
but many in the world do.

Before his writing, many of us just didn't understand.

He brought it to light.

I don't think anyone other than John Steinbeck's 'Grapes of Wrath' has ever brought me literally to tears (for days) about how hard poverty is.

These men, these two authors are such great men, in my eyes, they were eye openers. They allowed us in, into the heart, other's plights and misfortune.

God bless Frank and John too.

[laureloak]

38. And the grip of alcoholism. n/t

[CountAllVotes]

47. my husband is close in age to Frank McCourt

he is also from Ireland. I think his life growing up (sans father) was just as bad if not worse being there are 10 kids in the family. It sucked bad yes, and he left too, yes.

I cannot blame him.

Ireland was and is now headed again to the same dark times.

I'll tell you, you'll find no better American patriots than the likes of these immigrants from this era that came to the USA from Ireland. They make our "patriots" seem almost laughable to me.

:patriot: to you Frank McCourt - I know you loved America!

:kick:

[earth mom]

18. I'm so sorry to hear this! I loved McCourts writing!

May he RIP :cry:

[many a good man]

20. AA is one of the greatest books ever written

It was told in the voice of a child who was experiencing it, which made it powerful and touching beyond belief. It was a great gift to humanity.

[Captain Hilts]

24. It is all many people in this country know about poverty. nt

[JI7]

21. very sad, the hunger described in that book has stayed with me all these years

i only read the book once around the time it came out. but that has always stayed with me.

[Spacemom]

22. Godspeed

May the road rise up to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
And the rains fall soft upon your fields,
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

[Graybeard]

23. I have a signed copy of Teacher Man.

It is a prized possession. He tells of his 30 yrs teaching high school in NYC. He reminded me of those rare teachers who inspired me and really made a difference. Rest In Peace Mr. McCourt...Teacher Man.

[foginthemorn]

46. I used that book in my classes at one time. Very good book

even if dated.

[tblue37]

25. Sorry to hear that. I really like his books, and I wish he'd had time to

write a few more.

[tomreedtoon]

26. Now that I know what his books are about, I'll avoid them.

Life is depressing enough. Read DU and see. I don't need to have another overdose of tragedy and futility in fiction form.

I'm part Irish, I know that Irish writers are drunk and depressed, and that's why I don't celebrate that part of my heritage. I certainly don't need more depression in my life.

[Drunken Irishman]

27. You're depressing.

[tomreedtoon]

30. Of course I'm depressing. I'm Irish.

The most alcoholic people on Earth, the worst authors and poets, the people that were considered worse than blacks when they came to New York in the 1900's. What did you expect? Barry Fitzgerald? He was a lie.

[Drunken Irishman]

31. I like to be depressed, though.

Which is why I read DU.

[tomreedtoon]

43. See "South Park" episode 110, "Raisins."

That's the one where Stan Marsh gets depressed about losing his girlfriend Wendy, and starts hanging out with the Goth Kids, who are like the Irish except they substitute clove cigarettes for hard booze.

Stan learns that being sad-assed and sorry for yourself, the path of life about which you seem to approve, gets nothing done. He immediately changes out of his grey and black clothes, goes up to Wendy and her new guy and showers them with the contempt they deserve.

Life lesson: don't get depressed. Get angry.

[EFerrari]

33. The best poets in the English language.

For shame and bite your tongue. :spank:



WHEN you are old and gray and full of sleep
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;

How many loved your moments of glad grace, 5
And loved your beauty with love false or true;
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face.

And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how love fled 10
And paced upon the mountains overhead,
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

-- William Butler Yeats

[tomreedtoon]

44. Wrong. THIS is Irish poetry.

"I've only time for one more drink,
It seems my wife has died."

"Oh, we drink and drink and drink and drink and drink and drink and drink,
Then we fight and fight and fight and fight and fight and fight and fight..."

"Oh, me mother is drunk, and me father is drunk
And me sister is drunk and me brother is drunk
And me grandma is drunk and the baby is drunk
And the ones that aren't drinkin' are dead."

---Traditional Irish songs from Saturday Night Life

[redqueen]

51. Idiot. (nt)

[EFerrari]

54. Traditional songs are for singing. Every culture has them

and they are all like that. So, wrong yourself. :)

And have you heard of this guy?



He wrote a few things that people seem to like.

"Welcome, O life! I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and to forget in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race…Old father, old artificer, stand me now and ever in good stead."

[marasinghe]

34. Two names for you: George Bernard Shaw & Oscar Wilde

They wrote some of the funniest stuff in the English language, ever. Now to carry you back to your depression, here's a quote from an English writer, tongue-in-cheek, of course: "O! the Irish are a people the good Lord made mad; for all their wars are merry and all their songs are sad".

Go in peace, Mr. McCourt; you've earned it. May your hereafters be as green as the fields of Ireland and as bright as the streets of New York - both of which you called home.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEZIKSm78k8

[tomreedtoon]

42. Oscar Wilde, the paranoid hypochondriac. Good choice.

A guy whose main occupation was to piss off everyone around him by being afraid of germs, disease and injury. A guy who, in all honesty, was an emotional coward. Like I say, good choice.

[redqueen]

49. What, not going to trash Shaw, too? How about Yeats?

Got anything natsy to say about him?

Sick.

[tomreedtoon]

53. Sorry, I had a real education, not a BA in English.

I spent my time in school learning real-world, practical things like television engineering and advertising sales. Not navel-staring and basket-weaving, written in delicate term papers for a tenured prof to ooh and ahh over. How many people are leaping to employ English BA's, anyway? Especially now that writing is now an unpaid hobby instead of a paying profession?

[EFerrari]

55. Had you done more navel gazing maybe you'd have more sense

than to insult the greatest poets that ever lived. :)

[JI7]

28. what makes life worth living for you ?

[tomreedtoon]

29. Plain, determined anger and vengeance.

I will get through, even though everyone on this planet wants to see me dead. That's what gets me up and keeps me going; proving all you bastards wrong.

[JI7]

35. you will die one day as everyone else will

[Name removed]

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[alarimer]

37. No, it's about his early life, which was definitely depressing.

And certainly much worse than even I could have imagined it would be.

And he was not a drunk, so go fuck yourself.

[laureloak]

39. The insight gained by reading AA is too much for some.

It's a novel that I'll never forget. Sad, yes. But look at how McCourt's life turned out after such a miserable beginning and you can't help but feel good.

[Amos Moses]

32. Bless his heart. Angela's Ashes was such a powerful book.

It was the beginning of the road to sobriety for me.

Rest In Peace

[Maeve]

36. While sad, his books were not tragedies--they were tales of survival

And even tales of winning, for he escaped the misery, brought himself up to a better life and inspired his students and readers. As Angela's ashes are scattered both here and in Ireland, so is the influence of her tale and the stories of her children. Yes, bad choices and too much of the drink taken, but also a will to overcome and see that what happened does not repeat. "To be Irish is to know that the world will break your heart", but also that the story does not have to end there.

Peace and joy be on him.

[appal_jack]

40. RIP, Teacher Man

Thanks Frank McCourt for the humor and insight you shared, and Godspeed to a better place...

-app

[Still Blue in PDX]

45. RIP

Angela's Ashes is on my bookshelf, one of the few books I ever started and failed to finish. It broke my heart. I see it there all the time and think about finishing it and haven't picked it up.

That will be the next book I read.

[JitterbugPerfume]

48. He was such a sweet man

I loved Angela's Ashes

[redqueen]

50. RIP

Sad that the commentator they had on BBC World News today had nothing good to say about him.

I see we have our own version here.

Lovely.

[LeftishBrit]

52. RIP Frank McCourt.

A great writer.