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Ahern to Launch Feeney Book
TAOISEACH (Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern will launch the Conor O'Clery biography of Irish American billionaire philanthropist Chuck Feeney in Dublin on Labor Day. The location will be Trinity College.
The book, The Billionaire Who Wasn't, will chronicle the extraordinary life of Feeney, who grew up in a working class New Jersey neighborhood, went on to make billions in the world of duty free shopping and then secretly gave it all away.
The book is attracting major attention in America too, and 60 Minutes are said to be preparing a profile on the reclusive Feeney, who is the perfect antidote to the Donald Trump/Paris Hilton era of excess we all live in.
A huge part of his giving was in Ireland to college level institutions, and it is no surprise that the book launch there will attract Ahern, whose government has greatly benefited from the $300 million or so that Feeney has given to Irish education.
A New York launch is also planned for the near future, and it is hoped that Feeney himself will be at that one. Certainly, in terms of a life well lived and giving back Feeney has a lot to teach the idle rich about their obligations.
