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View Full Version : Frank McCourt, dead at 78


Goldie
07-20-2009, 06:34 AM
I don't know how many of you are familiar with Frank McCourt. But I absolutely love him. He was the author of Angela's Ashes (http://www.gc.maricopa.edu/english/angela.html), the story of his life growing up in Ireland. It was made into a movie. I was saddened to hear he had passed away yesterday.

NEW YORK -- After a childhood of almost impossible suffering, Frank McCourt came to embody so many improbable dreams. He was a survivor of poverty who became rich, the child of immigrants who made good. He was the retiree who stepped into a magical second life. He was the winning ticket for every ordinary person who has imagined that he or she could turn their lives into a book. "What the memoir requires is a distinctive voice, and Frank was a master of his voice," said Mary Karr, a friend of McCourt and author of the best-selling memoir "The Liar's Club." McCourt, the beloved former school teacher and author of "Angela's Ashes," died Sunday of cancer. He was 78, gravely ill with meningitis and recently was treated for melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer and the cause of his death, said his publisher, Scribner.

You can find the rest of the story here.. (http://www.wlwt.com/entertainment/20109953/detail.html)

Queen Pudding
07-20-2009, 02:26 PM
Very Sad....

DebLovesJohnInman
07-20-2009, 02:36 PM
Enjoyed reading Angela's Ashes. Could never find his other 2 books, Tis and Teacher Man



:anglophile:

Xymers
07-20-2009, 03:59 PM
I thought Angela's Ashes was his best. Sad to hear he passed; he wasn't really that old.

Goldie
07-21-2009, 07:16 AM
Enjoyed reading Angela's Ashes. Could never find his other 2 books, Tis and Teacher Man



:anglophile:
I found the other two books plus the books by his brother Malachy at my local library. Have you checked on Amazon.com?

I have Angela's Ashes, Tis, and Teacher Man. Plus I have Angela's Ashes on cassette tape actually read by Frank McCourt as well as the DVD of Angela's Ashes. The books I bought at a yard sale for a $1.00 each. :D

DebLovesJohnInman
07-21-2009, 02:32 PM
I found the other two books plus the books by his brother Malachy at my local library. Have you checked on Amazon.com?

I have Angela's Ashes, Tis, and Teacher Man. Plus I have Angela's Ashes on cassette tape actually read by Frank McCourt as well as the DVD of Angela's Ashes. The books I bought at a yard sale for a $1.00 each. :D
I'll have to try the library again since it's been a few years since I lasted looked for them. I didn't know his brother was a writer also.

minki
07-23-2009, 06:25 AM
Yes, he wasn't really old at all :( What a shame.

One of my friends in school had him as his teacher. I'm not sure if I did--I don't think I did, because I would have remembered an Irish brogue. But that was so long ago and I can't remember all of my English teachers, so who knows?

Goldie
07-23-2009, 06:54 AM
Oh wow, Minki. I couldn't imagine having him as an English teacher. That would have been awesome. What a privilege. And yes, he was not very old. Truly a shame.