Events & Exhibits - Spring 1999

The University of Scranton Honors Malachy McCourt

Malachy McCourt, author of the best-selling memoir A Monk Swimming, received the Distinguished Author Award from The University of Scranton's Friends of the Weinberg Memorial Library on Wednesday April 7, on the University's campus.
 
In A Monk Swimming McCourt revisits his wild days as a young man in America and shares his celebrated wit, outspoken political views and penchant for storytelling.Malachy McCourt
 
A Meet the Author Reception and presentation of the Distinguished Author Award were held in Eagen Auditorium. Event proceeds benefited the Friends of the Library Endowment, which supports library collections and services.
 
McCourt was born in Brooklyn, NY, in 1931. When he was three, his family moved to Limerick, Ireland, where he was raised. His family's story was made famous in the Pulitzer Prize winning Angela's Ashes, written by his older brother, Frank McCourt..
 
A recent film by Malachy's son, Conor McCourt, "The McCourts of Limerick," is a moving chronicle of the McCourt family's visit to the city of their birth. In 1952, McCourt returned to the United States and founded America's first singles bar, "Malachy's," in Manhattan, and went on to own several other saloons, including "Himself," "Port of Call" and "Bells of Hell." His local celebrity led to several appearances on The Tonight Show" with Jack Paar and many appearances on "The Merv Griffin Show."
 
He became a pioneer in talk radio with his show on WMC A-AM in the 1970s. McCourt went on to have an illustrious career on stage, screen, and television. His theater work includes "Playboy of the Western World," "Da," "Remembrance," "The Hostage" and "Shadow of Substance."
 
In addition to his one-man show, "Plunkitt of Tammany Hall." McCourt wrote and acted with his brother Frank in "A Couple of Blaguards." A new production of "A Couple of Blaguards" is currently mounted with actors at. the Triad Theatre in New York City.
 
McCourt's film credits include "Reversal of Fortune," "Bonfire of the Vanities," "The Field," The Devil's Own," and "She's the One." He was a long-time television regular on "Ryan's I lope," "Search for Tomorrow," and, until recently, "One Life to Live."
 
McCourt lives in New York City with his wife, Diana. He is the father of four children, a stepfather of one, and a grandfather of three. Jack Palance, the Emmy, Oscar and Golden Globe winning actor and author, received the inaugural Distinguished Author Award in 1997.
 
The Friends of the Weinberg Memorial Library was formed in 1994 to bring together people who have a mutual love of books and reading and to support projects to benefit the Library.
Charles Kratz
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