rachlan wrote: 
Wow, I had forgotten they made a movie out of that most excellent book. I just added it to my Netflix queue and moved it to the top.

Frank will be missed, but lucky for us his words live on. 

 OmegaConcern wrote: 
I never saw the movie but I read the book and I remember that I had an altercation with a priest while I was reading the book and I almost cleaned his clock in honor of Frank.  I've always had a healthy dis-regard of Catholics (I was raised Anglican) but I never felt the horror of it until I read that book.  To this day I have fun insulting Catholic priests.

I'm going to miss Frank, he made a terrific mark on the face of American thinking.

(To you, Frank...   )

 bokey wrote: 

I was tempted when my baby had a cold and the suction bulb didn't seem to work well, but I just couldn't get myself to do it.. lol   I mean, if it was an emergancy of course!

What??? 

Oh, damn. 

I'm pouring one out for you, my friend. 

Podcasts of Frank McCourt on Fresh Air with Terry Gross

Whenever my sinuses are acting up I always think of the scene in the book where the father sucks the snot out of the sick babies nose.

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Faol saol agat, gob fliuch, agus bás in Éirinn. Farewell, Teacher Man.

 Lazy8 wrote: 

Indeed. A journey of the human spirit.   

 OmegaConcern wrote: 
ha! (but don't turn your back on her!)

 steeler wrote:
 
It was also a great depiction of his path and progress as a writer and more broadly as a modern man of letters. His love of literature and the effort he was willing to go to to serve it were an inspiration to me. One of my literary heroes.

And that voice...damn, he could tell a story. I felt Irish and poor and world-weary and glad to be alive reading him.

 rachlan wrote: 

I have to say, I felt the same way.  I was on the tail end of a rough time in my own life when I saw that movie.  Had I seen it 2 months earlier, I probably would have gone home and killed myself (I think I'm only half kidding - and I'm not that kind of guy)!  I've caught parts of it again from time to time and it is simply the single most depressing movie I've ever encountered.  My wife tells me it paled in comparison to the book and suggestes I read it.  I think she's after the insurance money.  Having said that, it was truly a gripping story, a great film and from what I've heard a brilliant novel (just because it's depressing doesn't mean it's bad!).  RIP.

 Lazy8 wrote:  

I ascribe to that view, as well.  Everyone has a story within; just a matter of summoning it to the surface. That, of course, is easier said than done (some liken it to opening a vein). And, after it is out, the crafting begins, and that is often tedious, painstaking work. It can take the better part of a lifetime to get it right. 

Angela's Ashes was a tour de force for him; a harrowing yet warm depiction of abject poverty. 

RIP.      

a friend of mine who grew up in Limerick recommended i see that movie.   after I saw it i looked at him and said "wow, sucks to be Irish"   he said, "Yes, It does."

that was a great movie.

RIP