AFP: Frank McCourt, of 'Angela's Ashes' fame, dead: NYT

RIP: Frank McCourt, dead at 78

The older brother of actor and political activist Malachy McCourt, Frank was a school teacher who became famous as the author of the somber and autobiographical Angela's Ashes, which won him a Pulitzer Prize. That brilliant but dreary book doesn't reflect how most people remember him: as a legendary, funny, fun-loving and brilliant raconteur. In English: a bullshitter. Now if you're just an ordinary bullshitter, that is no special achievement, just as if you're an ordinary basketball player. But if you're Michael Jordan, that is special, and Frank was the Michael Jordan of bullshit. Humorist Dave Barry, a friend of Frank's, remembers his pal.