Frank McCourt RIP

RIP... I loved 'Angela's Ashes'

Angela's Ashes

He wrote a book about being an English teacher in New York City. He made me laugh 'cause all the kids seemed to be good at was writing excuses for why their homework wasn't done so he gave them the assignment of writing imaginary excuses. Also had them read recipies out of cookbooks. Sort of like "To Sir with Love" if anyone is old enough to remember that movie.

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Frank McCourt was a wonderful author, and I enjoyed everything he wrote. My favorite was "Teacher Man" about his experience in Stuyvesant High School in NYC.

He was a fantastic storyteller. Angela's Ashes made me cry harder than any other book I've read. The fact that it was true - doubly so...

One of my favorites. May he be at peace.

What? Nooooo! I never do the internet mourning but damn. Damn it! I loved the guy. And how did I not here about this in July?

This is very late in coming, but I miss his wit and his ability with a crowd. He was a small man -- not really tall enough, when doing a bookstore reading, standing...to be seen easily over the stack cases.

I'll never forget the first time I attended one of these, at The Book Revue in Huntington, LI. This is one of the Metro Areas largest, if not the largest independent bookseller. Their appearance schedule is legendary and so jammed it was surprising my wife and I were able to shoehorn in. He was reading from his second book in the series, "'Tis", and after the introductory banter was finished, which by itself had been worth the trip, the actual reading began. You could almost hear the sound of hundreds of eyeballs snapping into focus and ears tuning out the background noise. Even the sounds from the front register desk stopped. The hush that descended on the space was so complete, your own wristwatch ticking seemed intrusive. Then the voice began. It spread into the eager room with a fluidity that still, in retrospect, seemed supernatural. His ease with his words gave each listener a personal experience that day, and for an hour, we were transported to an earlier New York, one that felt fresher and less damaged.

I have continued to write, largely because of those two hours spent in the presence of an amazing storyteller. His like will not be seen or heard from again, soon.

I don't recognize his name, but it's always a shame when the writing community loses a member.

R.I.P.

Shadow_Ferret said:

I don't recognize his name, but it's always a shame when the writing community loses a member.

R.I.P.

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Frank was the Pulitizer prize winning author of his best selling memoirs, "Angela's Ashes", "'Tis", and "Teacher Man". He was a truly grand man, very humble, very talented and his loss is a great one.

May he R.I.P.

He was/is my favorite author.

I have all his books-- can't say that about most authors. The man was a master of the language (and a late starter at publishing like myself). His life so paralleled my father's that he verified what I thought of as Dad's lies. He is one of my guardian angles.

highlyirritable said:

He was a fantastic storyteller. Angela's Ashes made me cry harder than any other book I've read. The fact that it was true - doubly so...

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Well mostly true. It was worse. RIP Frankie

Angela's Ashes was the only book that I had read from him and it always takes courage to write about your childhood, especially one like he had.

RIP