Frank McCourt

Angela's Ashes is Frank McCourt's moving memoir of growing up in the slums of Limerick, Ireland. It is one of my favorite books and I can tell you that there's no other book like it. Angela's Ashes has remained on the New York Times bestseller lists for the last two years and won Frank a Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1997.

Having just completed 'Tis, his long awaited sequel to Angela's Ashes, which was released on September 21st, Frank has already begun a hectic 20-city tour to promote the book, which Publishers Weekly has already proclaimed to be as good as Angela's Ashes.

Kirkus Reviews writes, "Those whose hearts went out to the little boy who suffered so in Limerick might be put off by the hard-drinking, carousing grownup. But there's no denying McCourt's engaging wit. Is it as rewarding as Angela's Ashes? `Tis."

'Tis is "a story of bewilderment, fear and timidity in America," according to Frank. It begins where Angela's Ashes left off when Frank returns to America at the age of 19 in 1949. Frank admits that two of the best things to have happened to him were getting into the US army, which "forced him into the American mainstream", and teaching, which "reinforced it."

'Tis follows him into his 30-year teaching career, and although he has been retired from teaching since 1987, Frank remains a staunch supporter of public education and teachers' rights.

Frank recently appeared on '60 Minutes' with Ed Bradley on September 19 to help launch 'Tis. The '60 Minutes' episode featured Frank back in Limerick, Ireland--the setting for his bestselling memoir, Angela's Ashes.

I met Frank McCourt along with other writers at Sun Valley, Idaho, where he spoke of the release of the much anticipated film version of Angela's Ashes on December 17th of this year. He and his wife, Ellen Frey McCourt, were pleased with the movie and Frank said he was left speechless after reviewing the film. I bet that we, along with increasing the sale of Kleenex, would be, too.