Author Frank McCourt: Teacher Man

Marcia Franklin talks with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Frank McCourt about storytelling and the power of memory. (Note: McCourt died July 19, 2009)

The two talk about the loss of the storytelling ethos in our culture, and the need to preserve history through both oral and written tradition. They also discuss the rigors of teaching; McCourt taught high school English for 30 years and wrote about the experience in his 2005 book "Teacher Man". He says it was his students who urged him to write his memoir of growing up poor in Ireland, which was eventually published as "Angela's Ashes" and garnered the Pulitzer.

Franklin and McCourt also talk about how the events of 9/11 affected McCourt, who contributed to a book honoring the efforts of firefighters during the disaster. And he gives his picks for good reading. McCourt was in Boise to speak to the Idaho Humanities Council.

Originally Aired: 11/14/2002