R.I.P. Frank McCourt

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090719/ap_on_en_ot/us_obit_mccourt

Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood." - Angela's Ashes.

Lifeguarding during the summer gives me the opportunity to read a lot more than I normally would. I kind of appreciate the ridiculous amount of downtime that I have and try to use it to do something constructive. Reading is fundamental right? I think right now I'm on maybe my 20th book. I hope I'll hit 35 by the end of the season. Anyway, "Angela's Ashes" was about number 6. I was supposed to read it years ago in high school (and went through a good two weeks of assignments on the book without doing so). So in order to atone for my laziness, I decided to tackle this memoir again. Once I picked it up, I'm pretty sure it didn't leave my hands for a good three days. McCourt's quirky, witty childhood vernacular in the memoir delivers a honest perspective on the horrid conditions of everyday life in impoverished Ireland. I'm real taken aback that Frank McCourt passed on - since reading AA, I feel like I kind of knew him.

R.I.P. Mr. McCourt.
Thank you for your part in my inspiration to continue writing.