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E-mailThe World Mourns Frank McCourt
While mourning the death of Irish author Frank McCourt on Sunday, his friends and relations were consoled by the knowledge that -- although taken too soon -- McCourt had lived a rich life and had achieved every goal he had set himself.
McCourt, who had been gravely ill with meningitis, died on Sunday afternoon in a Manhattan hospice at age 78 of metastatic melanoma.
To hear his close friends tell it, the celebrated author had enjoyed three lives in one -- first came his early years as the malnourished boy on the backstreets of Limerick; his second life began with a 30-year stint as a celebrated school teacher in New York; and his third life followed at the age of 66 as the Pulitzer Prize winning author of his memoir Angela’s Ashes.
But there was another, more private aspect of McCourt’s life that proved as rich and rewarding as the other three combined -- his late in life happy marriage to his third wife and soul mate Ellen Frey, who he wed in 1994. It’s still not generally known how instrumental she was in talking him into writing Angela’s Ashes, and then encouraging him to get it published. But there’s no question that she provided the support and encouragement he needed to complete the book.
McCourt’s wife, brothers and close friends gathered in Manhattan on Sunday to keep a vigil at his bedside, and its understood they talked and reminisced about the life and times of man who had brought them together.
Recognizing that McCourt had accomplished all the major goals he had set himself in life, the majority of his friends and relations were in a bittersweet mood reminiscing about their friend and mentor.
“He had a great life; he did everything he set out to do,” fellow author and friend Peter Quinn told the Irish Voice. “He had his say -- not everyone gets to have their say.”
Quinn, who knew McCourt for over 30 years, became close to McCourt when they attended the same Manhattan literary group.
“Years ago we had this group called the First Friday’s Club. That group was for people who wanted to be writers or talk about writing. That’s where I got to know Frank.
“One afternoon he told me this, ‘You know what you’ve got to do? You’ve got to live life thinking of your biographer. So just think of some poor graduate student who’s going to spend years in the library writing about you. You’ve got to make your life interesting. You’ve got to take all the risks you can, swing at the curve balls and don’t worry about it, so long as its interesting.’
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