Sad news was announced today that author Frank McCourt, of Angela’s Ashes fame, has passed away. Mr. McCourt had melanoma skin cancer, a very dangerous and potentially fatal form of skin cancer. He came down with meningitis a couple of weeks ago; and struggled since that time. His brother, Malachy McCourt, announced a few days ago that he was not expected to survive. Today, Frank McCourt’s passing came at age 78.
Frank McCourt was well loved by both his students and by those who were captivated by his works. Frank McCourt started life in the most humble of circumstances and by most accounts his ordinary life was rooted in misery and poverty. As a young child living in Ireland, that poverty was ordinary for many families. Frank’s father was an alcoholic who drank all of the family money away, which normally would have gone to support and feed his wife and children. Frank’s goal was to get to America and begin an ordinary life and help support his family. He took on the responsibilities of a man in his teenaged years.
Often you see this kind of strength of character in a young man who has lost a father to death, to disability or some other difficult life circumstance. They take on the role of the father as a supporter, often a disciplinarian for younger siblings and an encourager for the mother figure. His “ordinary life” became extra-ordinary when he documented his struggles to survive in the book, Angela’s Ashes, which was published when Frank was in his 60′s. His ability to communicate and use descriptive words in his creative writing helped him to achieve success. That is along time to wait for financial and literary success. However, he had success in other areas of his life.
Frank did get to America where he taught creative writing in New York. He enjoyed teaching his students and sharing his life’s stories with them. He got an agent in 1996 which resulted in getting the book published. It created quite the sensation; and eventually became a movie. His skillful writing took his orndinary life and turned it into something extra-ordinary…it created a responsive reader…one who could empathasize with the child, the situation and the journey of overcoming!
Mr. McCourt began to get alot of attention once his book was published. He once expressed his dismay at all of the attention. What both shocked and dismayed him was the reaction of people he had known for a long time; he said, they looked at him differently. He pondered why they had never looked at him that same way when he was ONLY a teacher of students. It is something that continues to amaze many people…books seem to afford their authors credibility that other life skills do not. It elevates the author to the status of an expert in the eyes of many readers.
The ability to experience some of the worst life has to offer a child & young adult; and, still write it in a way that not only moves the reader through a range of emotions powerful enough to make them feel as if they need to rescue the characters; but, also skillfully finds humor and explanations is a rare gift. It is one that Frank McCourt had. He wrote of a life of poverty (many have experienced it’s sense of despair) and made people react to it. His writing skills will be missed…and for those who knew him, so will he.
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