A WORD FROM THE AUTHORS
Frank McCourt
Malachy stood behind the bar and told his customers
stories. I stood before the blackboard and told my students
stories. At holiday gatherings we told our families stories.
They said, "Why not get together, cobble these stories into
a script and tell the world.
Malachy McCourt
![Frank and malachy McCourt](images/frank-malachy.jpg)
This show is the result of Frank and myself listening to
the stories of our elders which in turn tunes the ear, the
eye and the tongue to observe and give voice to even the
most trivial of events. I think we had more fun than anyone
writing and performing "Blaguards" which has become an
affectionate term for the rowdy outgoing and sometimes
drinking sort boys. If you dont have a good evening,
you should have yourself checked to make sure you
havent died during the day. Blessings!
FRANK
McCOURT taught high school and college English for three decades
in New York andoccasionally, Dublin. Franks memoir, Angelas
Ashes, published in September of 1996 by Scribner, was honored
with The Pulitzer Prize for literature, the National Book Critics Circle
Award, the Boston Book Reviews Non-Fiction prize, the Abbey Award
and the Los Angeles Times Book Award, and spent more than 100 weeks
on the New York Times bestseller list. His second book, Tis,
another bestseller, was released in the fall of 1999. A major motion
picture based on Angelas Ashes starring Emily Watson
and Robert Carlisle premiered late the same year. As a speaker, Frank
is always in demand, having spoken at countless special events, colleges
and universities worldwide. He has been keynote speaker at the White
House on several occasions, and his dedication to education and the
teaching profession have even prompted invitations from Congressional
commitees focusing on education in America.
Howard Platt asked Frank to sing the songs in Blaguards. (Accompanied by Michael McCourt:)
Malachy McCourt was born in Brooklyn, USA and from the age of
three was raised in Limerick, Ireland. A very undistinguished academic
career plus the need to eat led him to leave school at the age of thirteen
to begin work in Ireland and England as a laborer.
He returned to the land of his birth at the age of twenty and again
worked at the manual tasks such as longshoreman, truck loader, dishwasher,
until he became an actor. That career took him to Broadway and Off-Broadway
and regional theatres in plays such as Mass Appeal, DA, The Hostage,
Inherit the Wind, Carousel and Translations. The soap operas such a
Ryan's Hope, Search for Tomorrow, One Life to Live were also a good
source of work and sustenance as were the movies Molly Maguires, She's
the One, The Devils Own, Green Card, and TV movies such a You Can't
Go Home Again and the Dain Curse. Due to a heavy schedule of writing,
book signings and public appearances McCourt had to take a sabbatical
from the acting trade but is now back after completing five movies Happy
Hour, Guru of Sex, Gods and Generals, The Last Run and Ash Wednesday
plus a running part in the HBO prison series Oz.
In the early seventies he was one of the first radio talk show hosts
on WMCA, NYC, a lively and controversial time of his life and he was
a frequent guest on the Tonight Show, Merv Griffin and Tom Synder shows.
Along with the above, Malachy McCourt has been credited with founding
the first singles bar in America, Malachy's of Third Avenue.
As well as being the co-author of the play A Couple of Blaguards with
his brother Frank, Malachy has written his own New York Times bestseller
memoir, A Monk Swimming, published by Hyperion Press. His most recent
memoir, Singing My Him Song, now out in paperback is published by Harper
Collins. Malachy's new books are: Danny Boy, a history of the song Danny
Boy; Voices of Ireland, an anthology of Irish literature; History of
the Claddheh Ring; and a book of affirmations, Harold B Thy Name. Malachy
writes a column, Sez I to Myself, that appears weekly in the Manhattan
Spirit, The Westsider and Our Town in NYC.
Malachy McCourt is happily married to Diana for three and one half decades,
has five grown children and is grandfather to three. He owes a great
deal to his friend Bill W.
For more information visit: www.malachymccourt.com
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