Highlights 2007
Frank McCourt
Closing Plenary
Saturday, July 14, 1:15 p.m.
Frank McCourt, acclaimed memoirist and Pulitzer-Prize winner, was born in New York City and raised in Limerick, Ireland in the 1930s and 40s. At the age of 19, McCourt returned to the United States to seek a fortune and an education. After graduating from New York University's School of Education, and supporting himself with several odd jobs, he found a brilliant career as a New York public high school teacher.
In September 1996, after he had retired from teaching, McCourt's memoir of his childhood, Angela's Ashes, was published by Scribner. It quickly rose to the top of the hardcover bestseller lists, remaining on the New York Times list for 117 weeks. It was also selected as the number-one nonfiction book of the year by Time and Newsweek magazines.
Angela's Ashes won many awards, including the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics' Circle Award, the ABBY Award, and the Los Angeles Times Book Award, and was chosen by many newspapers to be on their lists of Best Books of 1996. It also received Britain's Royal Society for Literature Award and in 1999 a hit movie was based on the book.
McCourt published the follow-up to Angela's Ashes titled 'Tis: A Memoir, in September 1999. It hit the New York Times bestseller list at number one, as did the paperback edition. For a time, 'Tis and Angela's Ashes were simultaneously at number one in hardcover and paperback, respectively. 'Tis received the New York Society Library Award and Italy's Riccardo Bacchelli Award.
In November 2005, McCourt wrote Teacher Man: A Memoir. It immediately jumped to number one on the New York Times bestseller list.
His acclaimed musical revue, The Irish and How They Got That Way, ran for more than a year at the Irish Repertory Theatre in New York. And the two-man play, A Couple of Blaguards, continuously plays throughout the United States, Canada, and Australia.
McCourt frequently lectures, mainly at universities across the country. He is a contributing editor for the new LIFE magazine, a supplement in various newspapers, and is the recipient of numerous honorary degrees and awards. He is also collaborating with composer David Amram on a New York City-inspired Mass called Missa Manhattan. He lives with his wife Ellen and dog Rory, in Connecticut and New York City.
