'Angela's Ashes' Author Frank McCourt Dies

[Marinepits]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,533941,00.html

Sunday, July 19, 2009

NEW YORK — Irish author Frank McCourt has died of cancer in New York City at age 78.

He was best known for the million-selling "Angela's Ashes," a memoir about his impoverished childhood. The memoir was published in 1996 and won a Pulitzer Prize.

Brother Malachy McCourt says Frank McCourt died Sunday afternoon at a Manhattan hospice.

Frank McCourt had been gravely ill with meningitis and recently was treated for melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.

He wrote "Angela's Ashes" after retiring from 30 years as a New York City high school English teacher. The book was an instant favorite with critics and readers.

McCourt's other books include "'Tis" and "Teacher Man."