While taking rehearsal shots for “My Fair Lady”, I caught sight of a newspaper headline one of the cast members was reading and I involuntarily gasped for air as I asked her if I could borrow that section. Reading the article, I was near tears and would have cried if I wasn’t already in a room with twenty other people, for Frank McCourt died of cancer last Sunday, July 19th. Even now, tears want to leap onto my cheeks. I feel as if the world has lost a light, something pricelessly precious and beautiful in his life. And I could say how no one is ever really lost and that his story will live on, but knowing that he is no longer living is hard.
For those of you who haven’t read his books, he is the author of the auto-biographies, “Angela’s Ashes”, “Tis'”, and “Teacher Man”. They are stories of unbelievably difficult circumstances he overcame, of a life I can hardly imagine, or a person who is broken and real, who comes to life for the reader, and yet who finds a whole life on the other side. He is an encouragement to us all in so many ways and he will live on through his books, in those he loved and in who loved him, and especially in all the lives he touched through being courageous enough to share his story. Thank you Mr. Frank McCourt for your courage and for your words. You helped us find courage of our own. We will miss you and will honor your memory by living out what you taught us, “teacher man”.
365-09 #199