McCourt, who had been gravely ill with meningitis, died Sunday afternoon at age 78 of metastatic melanoma, his publisher said. He is best known for the first of three memoirs, Angela’s Ashes, about surviving an Irish childhood of near-starvation. It won the Pulitzer Prize for biography in 1997 and was turned into a movie in 1999 starring Emily Watson as McCourt’s long-suffering mother, Angela.

Biography

Frank McCourt was born in Brooklyn, New York, the eldest of seven children of Malachy (died 1985) and Angela McCourt (died 1981). Unable to find work in the depths of the Depression, the McCourts returned to their native Limerick, Ireland in 1934, where they sank deeper into poverty.

McCourt’s father, an alcoholic who was often without work, drank up what little money he earned. When McCourt was eleven, his father left with other Irishmen to find work in the factories of wartime Liverpool, England. He sent little money to the family leaving Frank’s mother to raise four children. After quitting school at age thirteen, Frank alternated between odd jobs and petty crime in an effort to feed himself, his mother, and three surviving brothers, Malachy, Michael (who now lives in San Francisco), and Alphonsus (Alphie), (who now lives in Manhattan). The other three of McCourt’s six siblings died of diseases aggravated by malnutrition and the squalor of their surroundings. Frank himself nearly died of typhoid fever when he was ten. In his book Angela’s Ashes, McCourt describes an entire block of houses sharing a single outhouse, flooded by constant rain, and infested with rats and vermin.

Professional career

At age nineteen, he left Ireland returning to the United States where, after a stint working in New York City’s Biltmore Hotel, he was drafted and sent to Germany. Upon his discharge from the army, he returned to New York City where he held a series of jobs

Writing

He received the Pulitzer Prize (1997) and National Book Critics Circle Award (1996) for his memoir Angela’s Ashes (1996), which details his childhood as a poor Irish Catholic in Limerick. He is also the author of ‘Tis (1999), which continues the narrative of his life, picking up from the end of the previous book and focusing on life as a new immigrant in America. Teacher Man (2005), detailed the challenges of being a young, uncertain teacher who must impart knowledge to his students. His works are often part of the syllabus in high schools. In 2002 he was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Western Ontario.

Frank McCourt was a member of the National Arts Club and was a recipient of The International Center in New York’s Award of Excellence.

In 2002, he was awarded the Action Against Hunger Humanitarian Award.

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