Limerick author Frank McCourt is "gravely ill"
LIMERICK'S most famous author Frank McCourt is gravely ill and may have just months to live, it has been confirmed by those close to the family in New York.
Mr McCourt had been privately battling the skin cancer melanoma for the past year and is due to celebrate his 79th birthday next month.
The Southampton Review, a literary journal in New York, will also dedicate their next entire issue to Mr McCourt, which is due to be published later this month.
His brother Malachy McCourt said in May that Frank was doing well and that his cancer was in remission following a course of chemotherapy. He described his brother as "a hearty fellow" and said he has "survived worse than this." However, the Limerick Leader understands that his condition has now deteriorated.
He had received treatment at the world-famous Memorial Sloan Kettering hospital in New York, which specialises in cancer care, but has now understood to have been transferred to a hospice.
In May, messages of support flooded in for the Pulitzer Prize winning writer, who was due to visit Limerick in April.
On that occasion, he was due to attend the opening of Leamy's Art School and Gallery - his former national school, which features prominently in Angela's Ashes. However, McCourt cancelled his visit.
Mick O'Donnell, the Angela's Ashes tour guide in the city, said recently that Mr McCourt has "done so much for Limerick that people aren't really aware.
"He has brought people here in droves and people coming on the tours are now carrying his last book around with them," said Mr O'Donnell.
It is understood that McCourt and his wife Ellen were hoping to spend six months of this year in Limerick, and the remainder in New York. But that plan was no longer liable given the diagnosis of melanoma.
McCourt said during his last visit to the city that he has "unfinished business with Limerick" and believes there is still another book yet to be written about his relationship with the city. "Some day I'll have to write the real book and then watch out," he said.
During a revealing interview with this newspaper two years he spoke of his feelings on mortality. "I wouldn't like to be incapacitated, or handicapped, or die of a slow disease. I don't want to be beholden to anyone or have anyone wiping my mouth if I'm drooling. I'd just like to go. I don't want funeral services or memorials. Let them scatter my ashes over the Shannon and pollute the river."
He continued: "If you live past 65 you're responsible to the rest of humanity to pass on your insights, that's why you're allowed to live a little longer. So if I'm here, there's a reason I'm here."
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Tuesday 22 May 2012
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