Frank McCourt
Born in 1930
Frank McCourt was an Irish-American author and teacher born in New York City in 1930.
He spent much of his childhood in Limerick, Ireland, enduring extreme poverty.
McCourt returned to the US at 19 and eventually became a high school teacher in New York.
He didn't begin writing until his 60s, when he penned Angela's Ashes, his memoir of growing up poor in Ireland.
The book became an international bestseller, winning the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle Award.
McCourt went on to write two more memoirs before his death in 2009.
His works are known for their vivid depictions of Irish Catholic life and their blend of humor and pathos.