Goodbye Teacher Man – R.I.P Frank McCourt
Angela’s Ashes
tunelight © 2001 Video: Alexander Ng, Sunghun Kang, and Damien Borowik Sound: Stuart jones
Author Peter Matthiessen, who became friendly with McCourt after “Angela’s Ashes” came out, said he was “stunned” when he read it. “I remember thinking, ‘Where did this guy come from?” Matthiessen said. “His book was so good, and it came out of nowhere.” (via Huffingtonpost obit)
“It was only when I felt I could finally distance myself from my past that I began to write about what happened.”
Frank McCourt, rest in peace! I think his writing made me a better person. (that is a rather large order) He really could tell a story, a personal, disastrous, story and somehow guide the reader with a seamless wisdom. Paul Hasegawa Overacker
I interviewed him for an hour or so about two years ago. He was not sweet or grandfatherly or playing up his old country Irish roots — he was a driven, determined man who talked at length about how power corrupts, how authority, especially religious authority, can twist and ruin people’s lives, and how you have to find joy through decency, justice and a fiery commitment to telling the truth. I liked him immensely and reread all of his work with more attention. I realized that for all their humor, his books are intense and pointed efforts to redress the wrongs of the past and save people in the present from their desire to be told what to do. posted by Matthew Stopheles (Metafilter)