Frank McCourt
Encyclopedia
Francis "Frank" McCourt (August 19, 1930 – July 19, 2009) was an Irish-American
teacher and Pulitzer Prize
–winning writer, best known as the author of Angela’s Ashes, an award-winning, tragicomic memoir of the misery and squalor of his childhood.
, New York
on 19 August 1930 to father Malachy McCourt (1901–1985) and Irish
Catholic mother Angela Sheehan (1908–1981) Frank McCourt lived in New York with his parents and four younger siblings: Malachy
, born in 1931; twins Oliver and Eugene, born in 1932; and a younger sister, Margaret, who died just a few weeks after birth, in 1935. Following this first tragedy, his family moved back to Ireland, where the twin brothers died within a year of the family's arrival and where Frank's youngest brothers, Michael (b. 1936) and Alphie
(b. 1940), were born. Brothers Malachy and Alphie also became autobiographical writers.
Unable to find steady work because of the Depression and Malachy Senior's alcoholism, the McCourt family returned to their mother's native Limerick
, Ireland in 1934, where they sank even deeper into poverty. McCourt's father, Malachy Senior, from Toome in County Antrim, was often without work, and drank whatever little money he did earn. When Frank's grandfather from the North sent 5 pounds as a gift for his new baby brother Alphie, Malachy McCourt Sr. spent most of it in the pub. When McCourt was eleven, his father reluctantly left Limerick along with other Irishmen to find work in the factories of wartime Coventry
in England. However, he rarely sent any remittances home to support his family, eventually abandoning Frank's mother to raise four surviving children, without any source of income. Frank's school education ended at age 14, when the Congregation of Christian Brothers
(known at that time as the Irish Christian Brothers) rejected him, despite a recommendation from his teacher. Frank then held odd jobs and stole bread and milk in an effort to provide for his mother and three surviving brothers, Malachy, Michael (who now lives in San Francisco), and Alphonsus ("Alphie") (who lives in Manhattan
); the other three siblings had died in infancy or early childhood in the squalor of the family circumstances. Frank McCourt himself nearly died of typhoid fever
when he was 11. In Angela's Ashes
, McCourt described an entire block of houses sharing a single outhouse, flooded by constant rain, and infested with rats
and vermin.
making about $26 a week and sending $10 of it to his mother in Limerick. In 1951 he was drafted during the Korean War and was sent to Bavaria, Germany for two years initially training dogs, then as a clerk. Upon his discharge from the US Army, he returned to New York City, where he held a series of jobs on docks, in warehouses, and in banks.
in Brooklyn, Stuyvesant High School
, Seward Park High School, Washington Irving High School, and the High School of Fashion Industries, all in Manhattan. In 1967, he earned his Master's degree at Brooklyn College and in the late 60s he spent 18 months at Trinity College in Dublin, failing to earn his PhD before returning to New York City.
In a 1997 NY Times Op-Ed essay, Mr. McCourt wrote about his experiences teaching immigrant mothers at New York City College of Technology
in Brooklyn.
(1997) and National Book Critics Circle Award
(1996) for his memoir
Angela's Ashes
(1996), which details his impoverished childhood in Limerick
. He also authored 'Tis
(1999), which continues the narrative of his life, picking up from the end of the previous book and focusing on life as a new immigrant in America. Teacher Man
(2005) detailed the challenges of being a young, uncertain teacher.
and was a recipient of the Award of Excellence from The International Center in New York. In 1998, McCourt was honored as the Irish American of the Year by Irish America magazine
. In 2002 he was awarded an honorary degree from The University of Western Ontario.
In October 2009, the New York City Department of Education
, along with several partners from the community, founded The Frank McCourt High School of Writing, Journalism, and Literature, a screened-admissions public high school. The school is located on the Upper West Side
of Manhattan
on West 84th Street. The Frank McCourt School is one of four small schools designated to fill the campus of the former Louis D. Brandeis High School. The Frank McCourt High School began classes September 2010. The first principal of the school is Danielle Salzberg, who previously served as acting principal at Khalil Gibran
International Academy and as an assistant principal at Millennium High School (New York City)
. Among the many community partners of the Frank McCourt school are the Columbia Journalism School and Symphony Space
.
. He is survived by Ellen, his daughter Maggie, his granddaughter Chiara, grandsons Frank, Jack, and Avery, and his three brothers and their families.
In his free time, McCourt took up the casual sport of rowing. He once sank his Wintech recreational single scull on the Mohawk River
in New York, and had to be rescued by a local rowing team.
and that he was in remission, undergoing home chemotherapy
. On July 19, 2009, he died from the cancer, with meningeal
complications, at a hospice
in Manhattan.
Irish American
Irish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...
teacher and Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
–winning writer, best known as the author of Angela’s Ashes, an award-winning, tragicomic memoir of the misery and squalor of his childhood.
Life and work
Frank McCourt was born in BrooklynBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
on 19 August 1930 to father Malachy McCourt (1901–1985) and Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
Catholic mother Angela Sheehan (1908–1981) Frank McCourt lived in New York with his parents and four younger siblings: Malachy
Malachy McCourt
Malachy Gerard McCourt is an Irish-American actor, writer and politician. He was the 2006 Green Party candidate for governor in New York State, losing to the Democratic candidate Eliot Spitzer. He is the younger brother of Frank McCourt.-Personal life:Born in Brooklyn, New York, McCourt was raised...
, born in 1931; twins Oliver and Eugene, born in 1932; and a younger sister, Margaret, who died just a few weeks after birth, in 1935. Following this first tragedy, his family moved back to Ireland, where the twin brothers died within a year of the family's arrival and where Frank's youngest brothers, Michael (b. 1936) and Alphie
Alphie McCourt
Alphonsus Joseph "Alphie" McCourt is an Irish-American writer. He is the youngest brother of Frank McCourt.-Early life:Alphie McCourt was born in Limerick, Ireland on 29 July 1940, the youngest son of Malachy McCourt and Angela Sheehan .-Writing:Following in the footsteps of his elder brothers...
(b. 1940), were born. Brothers Malachy and Alphie also became autobiographical writers.
Unable to find steady work because of the Depression and Malachy Senior's alcoholism, the McCourt family returned to their mother's native Limerick
Limerick
Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...
, Ireland in 1934, where they sank even deeper into poverty. McCourt's father, Malachy Senior, from Toome in County Antrim, was often without work, and drank whatever little money he did earn. When Frank's grandfather from the North sent 5 pounds as a gift for his new baby brother Alphie, Malachy McCourt Sr. spent most of it in the pub. When McCourt was eleven, his father reluctantly left Limerick along with other Irishmen to find work in the factories of wartime Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
in England. However, he rarely sent any remittances home to support his family, eventually abandoning Frank's mother to raise four surviving children, without any source of income. Frank's school education ended at age 14, when the Congregation of Christian Brothers
Congregation of Christian Brothers
The Congregation of Christian Brothers is a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, founded by Blessed Edmund Rice. The Christian Brothers, as they are commonly known, chiefly work for the evangelisation and education of youth, but are involved in many ministries, especially with...
(known at that time as the Irish Christian Brothers) rejected him, despite a recommendation from his teacher. Frank then held odd jobs and stole bread and milk in an effort to provide for his mother and three surviving brothers, Malachy, Michael (who now lives in San Francisco), and Alphonsus ("Alphie") (who lives in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
); the other three siblings had died in infancy or early childhood in the squalor of the family circumstances. Frank McCourt himself nearly died of typhoid fever
Typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known as Typhoid, is a common worldwide bacterial disease, transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person, which contain the bacterium Salmonella enterica, serovar Typhi...
when he was 11. In Angela's Ashes
Angela's Ashes
Angela's Ashes is a 1996 memoir by the Irish-American author Frank McCourt. The memoir consists of various anecdotes and stories of Frank McCourt's impoverished childhood and early adulthood in Brooklyn, New York and Limerick, Ireland, as well as McCourt's struggles with poverty, his father's...
, McCourt described an entire block of houses sharing a single outhouse, flooded by constant rain, and infested with rats
RATS
RATS may refer to:* RATS , Regression Analysis of Time Series, a statistical package* Rough Auditing Tool for Security, a computer program...
and vermin.
Early career
In October 1949 at the age of nineteen he left Ireland on the MS Irish Oak that was supposed to stop in New York City but instead went up to Albany, NY. He took a train into New York City with a priest he had met on the ship, who got him a room to stay in and his job at New York City's Biltmore HotelNew York Biltmore Hotel
The New York Biltmore Hotel was a luxury hotel in New York City. It was one of three palatial hotels built as part of the Terminal City development...
making about $26 a week and sending $10 of it to his mother in Limerick. In 1951 he was drafted during the Korean War and was sent to Bavaria, Germany for two years initially training dogs, then as a clerk. Upon his discharge from the US Army, he returned to New York City, where he held a series of jobs on docks, in warehouses, and in banks.
Teaching
Using his GI Bill from the US Army, Frank talked his way into NYU by claiming he was intelligent and read a lot and was allowed in on one year's probation provided he maintained a B average. He graduated in 1957 from New York University with a Bachelor's degree in English. He taught at a range of six New York schools, including McKee Vocational and Technical High School in Staten Island, New York City College of TechnologyNew York City College of Technology
New York City College of Technology , nicknamed City Tech, is the largest four-year public college of technology in the northeastern United States, and a constituent college of the City University of New York...
in Brooklyn, Stuyvesant High School
Stuyvesant High School
Stuyvesant High School , commonly referred to as Stuy , is a New York City public high school that specializes in mathematics and science. The school opened in 1904 on Manhattan's East Side and moved to a new building in Battery Park City in 1992. Stuyvesant is noted for its strong academic...
, Seward Park High School, Washington Irving High School, and the High School of Fashion Industries, all in Manhattan. In 1967, he earned his Master's degree at Brooklyn College and in the late 60s he spent 18 months at Trinity College in Dublin, failing to earn his PhD before returning to New York City.
In a 1997 NY Times Op-Ed essay, Mr. McCourt wrote about his experiences teaching immigrant mothers at New York City College of Technology
New York City College of Technology
New York City College of Technology , nicknamed City Tech, is the largest four-year public college of technology in the northeastern United States, and a constituent college of the City University of New York...
in Brooklyn.
Writing
He received the Pulitzer PrizePulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
(1997) and National Book Critics Circle Award
National Book Critics Circle Award
The National Book Critics Circle Award is an annual award given by the National Book Critics Circle to promote the finest books and reviews published in English....
(1996) for his memoir
Memoir
A memoir , is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below...
Angela's Ashes
Angela's Ashes
Angela's Ashes is a 1996 memoir by the Irish-American author Frank McCourt. The memoir consists of various anecdotes and stories of Frank McCourt's impoverished childhood and early adulthood in Brooklyn, New York and Limerick, Ireland, as well as McCourt's struggles with poverty, his father's...
(1996), which details his impoverished childhood in Limerick
Limerick
Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...
. He also authored 'Tis
'Tis
'Tis is a memoir written by Frank McCourt. Published in 1999, it begins where McCourt ended Angela's Ashes, his Pulitzer Prize winning memoir of his impoverished childhood in Ireland and his return to America.-Synopsis:...
(1999), which continues the narrative of his life, picking up from the end of the previous book and focusing on life as a new immigrant in America. Teacher Man
Teacher Man
Teacher Man is a 2005 memoir written by Frank McCourt which describes and reflects on his teaching experiences in New York high schools and colleges.-Synopsis:...
(2005) detailed the challenges of being a young, uncertain teacher.
Recognition
McCourt was a member of the National Arts ClubNational Arts Club
The National Arts Club is a private club in Gramercy Park, New York City, New York, USA. It was founded in 1898 to "stimulate, foster, and promote public interest in the arts and to educate the American people in the fine arts". Since 1906 the organization has occupied the Samuel J...
and was a recipient of the Award of Excellence from The International Center in New York. In 1998, McCourt was honored as the Irish American of the Year by Irish America magazine
Irish America magazine
Irish America magazine is a bi-monthly periodical that aims to cover topics relevant to the Irish in North America including a range of political, economic, social, and cultural themes. The magazine’s inaugural issue was published in October 1985...
. In 2002 he was awarded an honorary degree from The University of Western Ontario.
In October 2009, the New York City Department of Education
New York City Department of Education
The New York City Department of Education is the branch of municipal government in New York City that manages the city's public school system. It is the largest school system in the United States, with over 1.1 million students taught in more than 1,700 separate schools...
, along with several partners from the community, founded The Frank McCourt High School of Writing, Journalism, and Literature, a screened-admissions public high school. The school is located on the Upper West Side
Upper West Side
The Upper West Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, New York City, that lies between Central Park and the Hudson River and between West 59th Street and West 125th Street...
of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
on West 84th Street. The Frank McCourt School is one of four small schools designated to fill the campus of the former Louis D. Brandeis High School. The Frank McCourt High School began classes September 2010. The first principal of the school is Danielle Salzberg, who previously served as acting principal at Khalil Gibran
Khalil Gibran
Khalil Gibran Jubrān Khalīl Jubrān,Jibrān Khalīl Jibrān, or Jibrān Xalīl Jibrān; Arabic , January 6, 1883 – April 10, 1931) also known as Kahlil Gibran, was a Lebanese American artist, poet, and writer...
International Academy and as an assistant principal at Millennium High School (New York City)
Millennium High School (New York City)
Millennium High School is a public high school located in 75 Broad Street in New York City. Unusual to New York public high schools, the school occupies the 11th, 12th, and 13th floors of the former ITT building, in the financial district of Lower Manhattan, according to insideschools.org .The...
. Among the many community partners of the Frank McCourt school are the Columbia Journalism School and Symphony Space
Symphony Space
Symphony Space is a multi-disciplinary performing arts organization at 2537 Broadway on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Performances take place in the 760-seat Peter Jay Sharp Theatre or the 160-seat Leonard Nimoy Thalia theater. Programs include music, dance, theater, film, and literary readings...
.
Personal life
McCourt was married first, in August 1961 (div. 1979), to Alberta Small, with whom he had a daughter, Margaret. He married second, in August 1984 (div. 1985) to psychotherapist Cheryl Ford. He married his third wife, Ellen Frey McCourt, in August 1994, and they lived in New York City and Roxbury, ConnecticutConnecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
. He is survived by Ellen, his daughter Maggie, his granddaughter Chiara, grandsons Frank, Jack, and Avery, and his three brothers and their families.
In his free time, McCourt took up the casual sport of rowing. He once sank his Wintech recreational single scull on the Mohawk River
Mohawk River
The Mohawk River is a river in the U.S. state of New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson River. The Mohawk flows into the Hudson in the Capital District, a few miles north of the city of Albany. The river is named for the Mohawk Nation of the Iroquois Confederacy...
in New York, and had to be rescued by a local rowing team.
Death
It was announced in May 2009 that McCourt had been treated for melanomaMelanoma
Melanoma is a malignant tumor of melanocytes. Melanocytes are cells that produce the dark pigment, melanin, which is responsible for the color of skin. They predominantly occur in skin, but are also found in other parts of the body, including the bowel and the eye...
and that he was in remission, undergoing home chemotherapy
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with an antineoplastic drug or with a combination of such drugs into a standardized treatment regimen....
. On July 19, 2009, he died from the cancer, with meningeal
Meningitis
Meningitis is inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, known collectively as the meninges. The inflammation may be caused by infection with viruses, bacteria, or other microorganisms, and less commonly by certain drugs...
complications, at a hospice
Hospice
Hospice is a type of care and a philosophy of care which focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's symptoms.In the United States and Canada:*Gentiva Health Services, national provider of hospice and home health services...
in Manhattan.
The Frank McCourt Museum
The Frank McCourt Museum was officially opened by Malachy McCourt on 14 July 2011 at Leamy House, Hartstonge Street, Limerick. This Tudor-style building was formerly known as the Leamy School, the former school of Frank and his brother Malachy. The museum showcases the 1930s classroom of Leamy School and contains a collection of memorabilia including items such as school books of the period and old photos, all donated by former pupils of the school. As well as having a large selection of Angela's Ashes memorabilia the museum has also recreated the McCourt home as described in the book using period pieces and props from the Angela's Ashes motion picture. The downstairs of the museum houses the Dr. Frank McCourt Creative Writing centre. The museum is run by Limerick artist Una Heaton, who operates a gallery and art school also in the building.External links
- IrishCentral.com Exclusive: McCourt's last moments - a real Irish send-off
- Frank McCourt - Daily Telegraph obituary
- New York Times obituary
- Write TV Public Television Interview with Frank McCourt
- Reviews of Frank McCourt's memoirs
- Teaching Secrets
- Late Author’s Younger Brother Remembers Childhood Poverty Depicted in Angela’s Ashes - video report by Democracy Now!