Roy Halladay has likely thrown his last pitch as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays.

With the latest statement from Roy Halladay’s agent that the star pitcher wants to be traded before the season starts or not at all, the Toronto Blue Jays find themselves in the uncomfortable position of dealing the face of the franchise, or risk losing him for nothing at all. Halladay has been a consummate professional during his tenure in Toronto but the 12-year veteran wants the chance to play for a World Series caliber team, and that’s not going to happen north of the border.  Worse yet, the Blue Jays be may forced to send their ace to a division foe like Boston or New York, two teams with payrolls large enough to accomodate the giant contract that Halladay will receive after his deal ends in 2010. Toronto has been to this dance before, dangling Halladay at last season’s trade deadline only to nix a deal with Philadelphia at the last minute. Now though, the Blue Jays are running out of time to make a decision that could shape their franchise for the next decade.

Roy Halladay has arguably been baseball’s most consistent and durable pitcher since a line drive ended his 2005 season. In the past four years Toronto’s staff ace has won at least 16 games every season to go along with a sub 3.70 ERA and at least 200 innings pitched. At only 32-years-old, Halladay could anchor a pitching staff for the next half decade or more, and his ability to go deep into ballgames takes pressure off the entire pitching staff. Though his increased workload may scare off some suitors, “Doc” has pitched the best baseball of his career the last two seasons (2008: 20-11, 2.78 ERA, 206 K’s; 2009: 17-10, 2.79 ERA, 208 K’s) and his work ethic and off-season conditioning are nearly unparalleled. While Toronto might not be the biggest market in baseball, Halladay proved that he could pitch under a spotlight last season, refusing to let the month-long media frenzy surrounding him affect his pitching. Players like Halladay don’t come along often and teams will likely be stumbling over themselves to sign him if the Blue Jays can’t move him before Opening Day. With a miniscule chance of Halladay resigning after 2010 Toronto has no choice except trading their best player, but to whom?

Roy Halladay may be coming to a city near you...if you live in a major metropolitan area on the East Coast.

The most obvious destinations are Boston, New York, Los Angeles (Dodgers and Angels) or Philadelphia. Halladay has a full no-trade clause in his current contract that would allow him to veto any deal the Blue Jays made; the teams listed above are supposedly on Halladay’s short list of organizations he would consider moving to. The Yankees are always a threat to land a big name like Halladay, but the organization is looking to trim it’s payroll and would be hesistant to part with youngsters Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain (much like they were with the Johan Santana trade). The Red Sox might be looking to make a splash after the arch-rival Yankees captured last year’s World Series, though they have to consider whether trading away players like Clay Bucholz, Daniel Bard and Jed Lowrie is worth what might amount to a one-year rental of Halladay. The Dodgers don’t have the money after the messy divorce of their owner Frank McCourt, but the Angels might become a major player if their are unable to resign free-agent Jon Lackey (though they have shown a reluctance to part with top prospects in the past). It’s difficult to believe the Phillies will actively pursue Halladay after getting burned by the Blue Jays at last year’s trade deadline, but anything is possible when a player of Halladay’s caliber is available.

Toronto has been an afterthought in the AL East for the past decade and trading away their best player certainly won’t vault them to the top of the division, but they’ve backed themselves into a corner and have to act fast in order to gain maximum value for Halladay. They won’t receive as much in a trade for him as they would have in July, but if Halladay stays with the team they will remain a mediocre ballclub in 2010 and then have nothing to show for him except for a couple of compensation picks in the 2011 draft (which are never a sure thing). In baseball’s highstakes free agent market he who hesitates is lost, and the Toronto Blue Jays are dangerously close to giving away the game’s best pitcher for pennies on the dollar.

When Catholic school rules governed most of my actions and reactions, I read any and all books page by page, cover to cover, never skimming, never skipping.  (Obviously this was a most excellent approach and I applaud the nuns who instilled the ‘rule’.)

For years, a notebook and pencil were on my lap awaiting  the  unknown word scribbled into my vocabulary.  That rule took me through high school and college.  I even aced lots of those Reader’s Digest Vocab Tests thanks to the good Sisters.

Experimented with a  reading-history notebook, recording each author, title and opinion.  That lasted less than one spiral notebook.  Seemed a bit of a warped vanity and could become a storage problem.

Now to the hushed part of my confession.  When life got busy and I had to ’schedule’ my reading time I developed a strategy certain to bring gasps from the true bibliophile.  If the first one or two chapters did not have me hooked, I skipped to the last chapter.  If the ending justified the means to get there (reading all the stuff in between), I read it all.  If the ending were ho-hum or Oh NO!, the book closed.

It isn’t a question of time now.  It is a question of wanting only the cream and my brand of cream.  There are months when I start and quickly stop 5, 10, maybe more books before I find the one that sucks me right into the beautiful use of language, authentic characters, validation and understanding or a believable story.  There are times when I pick from my do-over shelf…books I love and read over and over.

And that shelf brings me to a thought about two of my favorite authors, Frank McCourt (RIP) and Cormac McCarthy.  Both men write from some of the darkest places in human journey.  Mr. McCourt’s darkness twinkles with the loveliest of humor despite the ‘ashes’.  Mr. McCarthy covers different ground.  Both men write of love, family and hope.

Before viewing the movie, The Road, read the book.  The love between man and son will wrench your heart.  Trust, hope and faith that something better is ‘out there’ underlies the horror.   The best and the worst of us is on that road.  Mr. McCarthy’s book takes the breath, fills the eyes and sometimes requires  distance.   Why not give Cormac McCarthy first call on your reaction to The Road?

THE CLOSEST FRANK AND JAMIE MCCOURT ARE GOING TO COME TO A BILLION DOLLARS

Oh!

My!

God!

A tip of the hat to Fanhouse.com for coming up with the quintessential story on Los Angeles Dodgers owners Frank and Jamie McCourt. The McCourts are currently going through a nasty Hollywood divorce. As part of her divorce filing, Jamie McCourt is demanding $400,000 per month from her soon-to-be ex-husband in “spousal support.” However, there’s a problem. Fanhouse says, according to court documents filed by Frank McCourt himself, he’s a little cash poor and can’t afford the payment.

Care to take a guess at Frank McCourt’s entire net worth?

Would you believe that (not including the Dodgers) Frank McCourt has a total of $167,000 in the bank. That’s not a lot for a guy who’s claimed to be a “billionaire.” As Fanhouse hilariously points out, that’s less than one week’s salary for Dodgers reserve outfielder Juan Pierre. The McCourts have been paying for all of their living expenses, including private jet travel, by charging it to the Dodgers. Living expenses that include this $46 million Malibu mansion:

It’s pretty bad when practically every single homeowner who reads this post has a “real estate empire” greater than Frank McCourt’s. Now you know why McCourt’s wife was commiting adultery with a guy she thought was an heir to the Pillsbury fortune, but who in reality turned out to be a deadbeat dad who beats pregnant women.

The story is also yet another example of what a complete and utter buffoon Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig is. When Rupert Murdoch and Fox sold the Dodgers in 2004, Selig personally lobbied for McCourt as the club’s new owner. This despite the fact that McCourt literally had NO MONEY. McCourt owned ONE parking lot in Boston. Murdoch and the bank let McCourt put the parking lot up for collateral when he went to buy the Dodgers. Eventually, Murdoch accepted the parking lot as full payment for the Dodgers. Murdoch flipped the property for $200 million in cash.

Bank of America certainly knew how broke McCourt was. They actually put a clause in the the Dodgers deal that prohibited McCourt from paying himself more than a $5 million annual salary. Since McCourt only has $167,000 in the bank, it’s a good thing he paid himself the $5 million. The B of A clause also reveals what a sham Jamie McCourt’s being named “the highest ranking female executive in baseball” was. Making her Dodgers CEO was just a scam by the McCourts to pull more cash out of their Dodgers piggy bank.

BUD SELIG: SURE CAN PICK EM!

Boston nightmare couple Frank and Jamie McCourt – the Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston of professional sports – are engaged in a truly ugly divorce, and the Los Angeles Dodgers are the abused offspring.

Frank (known in the Los Angeles press as “the Boston parking lot attendant”) says he alone owns the Dodgers; Jamie says they both own the franchise. A Wall Street Journal piece has Frank claiming he’s broke:

Mr. McCourt’s filing paints the picture of a man who, relative to his lifestyle, is operating without much of a cash cushion. In the filing, Mr. McCourt said his liquid assets consisted of a bank account with less than $1.2 million.

Jamie McCourt, meanwhile, paints a different monetary picture in court papers:

“Frank has access to the vast monetary resources of the Dodgers and other McCourt entities . . . I do not believe it is appropriate that I should be required to invade” savings to pay for living expenses — which she estimated at $489,000 a month

Half a million dollars a month in walking-around money?

Shut up.

Escutem. Estão ouvindo? Provavelmente não.
Estamos escrevendo em todos os momentos da vida. Mesmo nos sonhos a gente está escrevendo. Quando a gente caminha pelos corredores da escola encontra diversas pessoas no caminho e escreve ferozmente dentro da cabeça. Aí está o diretor. È preciso tomar uma decisão sobre o cumprimento. Vou acenar com a cabeça? Vou sorrir? Vou dizer, Bom dia senhor?, Ou vou simplesmente dizer, Oi? A gente vê uma pessoa de quem não gosta. De novo uma escrita feroz dentro da cabeça. È preciso tomar uma decisão. Virar a cara para o lado? Olhar fixo para frente enquanto a pessoa passa? Cumprimentar com a cabeça? Murmurar um oi? A gente vê uma pessoa de quem gosta e diz, Oi, de um jeito afetuoso e derretido, um oi que evoca a batida de remos na água, o sobrevôo de violinos, o brilho dos olhos no luar. Há tantas maneiras de dizer oi. Murmurar, gorjear, latir, cantar, bramir, rir, tossir. Uma simples caminhadinha pelo corredor dá material para muitos parágrafos, muitas frases dentro da nossa cabeça, decisões aos montes.

On Monday Lauren and I traveled 90 minutes south to Limerick. Lauren had an afternoon interview to do some work with Irish Aid and I tagged along for the fun of it.

Limerick is often portrayed as a gritty, rough place. In his Pulitzer Prize winning book Angela’s Ashes Frank McCourt claims that “in Limerick you are only allowed to say you love God, and babies, and horses that win. Anything else is softness in the head.” In our three short months here, we’ve heard several people refer to Limerick as “stab city” – a crude reference based on the stereotype that Limerick is plagued by violent gang activity.

Six hours isn’t enough to to break down or substantiate existing stereotypes, but we certainly had a nice afternoon and found it to be a lovely city.

We spent the morning at King John’s Castle. Originally built in the 12th century, the castle is Ireland’s most intact medieval stronghold.

As we walked around the castle, I kept wishing the walls could talk. Its absolutely overwhelming to think about how much history is wrapped up in them. Even now, archeologists are excavating part of the grounds where they’ve discovered Viking houses that predate the castle.

Of course, King John himself never visited the castle. But, it was there for him…just in case. Oh monarchy and its rediculous excess…I guess I should give him credit for signing the Magna Carta at least.

After the castle we had a lovely lunch at the Sage Cafe…a lucky find that wasn’t listed in any guide books. If you ever find yourself in Limerick, we highly recommend it.

And a little later, we were greeted by a beautiful rainbow…

Sometimes the rain is worth it.

Reports from USA today have indicated a possible trade between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Los Angeles Dodgers that will send the Jays’ coveted ace Roy Halladay to the Dodgers for Chad Billingsley and several minor league prospects. This will solidify the Jays as a rebuilding team for the foreseeable future.

Roy Halladay has been the foundation of the Jays’ staff for nearly a decade and the trade will put an end to any hopes the team have at a playoff run in 2010. In 2009, Halladay had a 17-10 record, 9 complete games with a 2.79 era over 239.0 innings pitched.

If reports are accurate, Toronto will receive a very promising young right handed pitcher in Chad Billingsley. He posted a 12-11 record in 2009 with a 4.03 era and 179 strikeouts in 196.1 innings thrown. At 25, Billingsley has loads of potential throwing in the mid 90’s with a good curveball and great command.  However, he needs to work on his stamina and change-up if he wants to be a future ace.  With former pitching coach Brad Arnsberg now gone, the Jays will need to find the right person to mould Billingsley into a dominant Major League pitcher.

Since taking over the reins, Toronto’s rookie GM Alex Anthopolous has been playing his hand close to his chest with no public comments regarding possible trade scenarios involving Roy Halladay. Anthopolous is not ruling out attempting to resign Halladay to a long-term extension, especially if the Jays are competitive next season. However; with the trade winds seemingly swirling around the Blue Jays, it appears the likelihood that Halladay will be traded before the season starts is higher than many experts originally believed.

By Steven Booth

The Yankees just proved it’s them and everyone else. the Phillies never really stood a chance unless they had a couple of Cliff Lee clones hanging around. Pedro Martinez is a great comeback story, but starting in Yankee Stadium with the series on the line?  Charlie Manuel didn’t have a choice. Martinez was his most effective starter besides Lee (A.J. Happ?), and it is more of a statement of the Yankees dominance than anythiong the Phillies did or didn’t do.

They spent the money wisely this year and calmly went about their business of dominating the baseball season. No one had a chance- not the Phillies, the Dodgers, the Red Sox, or the Angels. The Cardinals would’ve been interesting, but they laid down against the Dodgers, who in turn laid down against the Phillies. Barring significant injuries or decline, the Yanks should win again next year. Teams tend to do funny things in seven and five game series, but anything less than a repeat for the Yankees would be a disappointment.

Meanwhile, back to the Dodgers. Frank McCourt got a little win when a judge agreed with him that he did not have to reinstate Jamie McCourt as CEO. Of course it isn’t that big. The team’s true ownership hasn’t been decided yet, and after all is said and done, there very well may not be anyone named Mc Court in the team’s ownership. If for some reason a very bored Mark Cuban is reading this, please take note.

John Lackey filed for free agency. I’m sure Ned Colletti knows this, so hopefully the owners do too, and are willing to spend a l;ittle cash to bring him over. He is the  solid, durable horse they were missing in the postseason. Lackey would take some of the pressure off Chad Billingsley and Clayton Kershaw to be the aces. It seems the Dodgers dropped the ball on getting Cliff Lee, let’s hope the owners don’t let their public cluster%$#* overtake their aggressiveness in the offseason.

You might say that the Yankees are still sleeping off their championship party hangovers, but other teams are moving. The White Sox bagged Mark Teahen, the Braves signed Tim Hudson to a three-year deal, and the Angels locked up Bobby Abreu for a few more years. While the Yankees are sleeping everyone else should be awake.

BTW, I always thought Tim Lincecum looked like a burner. If he throws like that, so what….

In the world of sports, it’s obviously critical to have the best possible players on your team in order to win.

It’s essential to have the right coaches and trainers on board, to help those players do their best, and to put them in a position to triumph.

It’s vital to have the right management team in charge: scouting, hiring, and acquiring the players and coaches that a team needs to be successful.

All those things are important, clearly. But without principled, moneyed ownership to pay all the bills, choose the right lieutenants to call the shots, and provide all the ingredients to make the championship pie — without sticking their fingers into it as it’s cooling — a sports team will be hard-pressed to win championships.

That’s why Frank and Jamie McCourt’s ownership of the Los Angeles Dodgers has been a complete and utter disgrace.

This pair of Beantown parking lot magnates flew cross-country to purchase one of baseball’s greatest franchises in 2003. They’ve since given themselves full West Coast makeovers, and their egos have ballooned up to Hollywood standards.

For reference, this is what they used to look like:

The McCourts have used the Dodgers as their own personal cash cow and id vehicle, acquiring washed-up Red Sox players and dealing away top prospects for cash as they go on ridiculous spending sprees and jet around the country in Gulfstream IVs.

Now the McCourts are getting divorced, and feuding like children for all to see.

The resulting fallout could cripple the franchise, because neither is rich enough to own the team in the aftermath of a costly split, let alone invest the money the Dodgers need to get stronger.

Of course, they don’t give a whit about that, because Frank and Jamie McCourt are narcissistic boobs.

ROTI issued our first takedown of the McCourts last offseason, when we accused them of pinching pennies and not doing what it took to bring back stars Manny Ramirez and Rafael Furcal.

Those jerks shut us up by getting both players under contract. The Dodgers got out to a great start, won the NL West (not without a fight, though), and made it to the playoffs.

However, before the team was even eliminated, Frank McCourt fired Jamie from her position as CEO of the Dodgers, accusing her of insubordination and an inappropriate relationship with an employee!

Jamie retorted, “You can’t fire me – I OWN this team!”

This immediately kick started a divorce court battle that centered around the question “Who owns the Dodgers?”

Major League Baseball insists that one controlling owner be determined for each franchise, and in this regard, Frank McCourt is the owner of the Dodgers. He’s also got Jamie’s signature on a document to that effect.

However, it seems possible that the team is part of the couple’s community property, and thus subject to 50/50 division in California divorce court.

Further complicating matters is that the team was purchased in a highly leveraged deal. The McCourts were never that wealthy to begin with (by sports team ownership standards).

A new blog called Dodger Divorce, written by Joshua Fisher, has done a brilliant job of breaking down the couple’s purchase of the team. It concludes a wrapup of the evidence with these damning statements:

So, if you’re counting at home, the above adds up to $421 million in financing…for a $371 million purchase. That, friends, is a little scary….

We know that the McCourts aren’t worth anything close to the $1.2 billion Jamie suggests. At most, the couple seems to have something approaching $750 million in total net worth ($400 million in “other assets plus ~$350 million in equity in the Dodgers). However, it is my guess, based on the loan balances due on the residences and their history of operating heavily-leveraged businesses, that the couple’s net worth is under $600 million.

If the team is determined to be an asset of the marriage, either partner would have to become heavily leveraged to take the other out. If no agreement can be reached and the court orders the Dodgers to be sold to a third party, expect a bit of a discount on the purchase price, leaving both McCourts with even less…

What I really want to emphasize is that the McCourts aren’t worth as much as you think, and breaking up this marriage is going to cost them both dearly.

Not only that, but it’s going to cost the Dodgers dearly.

If you want evidence, just take a day trip south, where the San Diego Padres have suffered immensely after their owner, John Moores, divorced his wife. Moores was utterly strapped for cash and had to sell the team; in the meantime, the franchise floundered.

What makes this so much worse than the Moores/Padres situation is that the McCourts’ divorce is not merely harming the team’s bottom line — it’s playing out in the papers on a daily basis, overshadowing the club and humiliating Dodger fans.

Where to begin…let’s start with Jamie’s divorce filing…

ShysterBall did an absolutely glorious job of summarizing Jamie’s opening salvo.

There’s no way I could recap it all here, so check it out when you get a chance. For true legal junkies, there’s also this link to the filing itself.

She wants $320,967 in monthly spousal support if she gets her job back with the Dodgers. If she does not get her job back with the Dodgers, she wants $487,634 a month.

Jamie led a push to have the environs of Dodger Stadium given its own zip code and the name “Dodgertown, California.” That’s so lame I’d expect to see that as an accusation in Frank’s filings, not a supporting point in Jamie’s. Jamie made $2 million a year when she worked for the Dodgers. You can look at this one of two ways: as an awful damn lot of money to pay a person for coming up with stupid stuff like “Dodgertown, California” or as a total steal considering she made 1/6 the money Jason Schmidt did and actually, you know, did stuff.

Description of lifestyle: more on the private air travel (private jets at $12K an hour) fine hotels (always over $1000 a night) and nice dinners out ($400+ a pop). Good for them. What kills me though is that the next time there’s a labor impasse, Joe Fan is going to side with the owners and complain that the players are the greedy ones who make too much money to play a kid’s game.

Jamie wants her job back as Dodger CEO, but even if she can’t get that, she wants all the “perquisites, emoluments and benefits” that come with the job and with co-ownership of the Dodgers. That’s perks and fringe benefits to peasants like you and me. The list of perks is long and includes all of the sorts of things you might expect the owners of a billion dollar company to have: Private jet travel, five star hotels wherever she goes, use of the “Dodger credit card” and the like.

The only one that has me scratching my head is “private security when traveling in dangerous locations.” By that I can only assume she means road trips to Queens when the team plays the Mets.

Actually, what it means is that she wants Frank to foot the bill for the companionship of her personal “bodyguard,” Jeff Fuller. Also known as her road beef.

Here’s an AP report on Frank’s divorce filing:

Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt on Wednesday filed papers opposing his wife’s demand to be reinstated as the team’s chief executive, citing insubordination and an affair she allegedly had with her bodyguard.

The documents were submitted one day after Jamie McCourt filed divorce papers seeking to regain her $2 million-a-year job.

In a filing submitted by the Dodgers that opposes her return to the team, Dodgers attorneys allege that Jamie McCourt took a trip with her bodyguard, Jeff Fuller, in early July to Israel on team business, but then headed to France for 2 1/2 weeks and billed the Dodgers for the trip. Jamie McCourt is also accused of not giving her husband any information about her assignments as chief executive and not providing the team with her schedule of public appearances.

In a declaration filed by Frank McCourt, he references Fuller as well, saying before his wife went on the trip she asked him for three things — one of which was to have Fuller be her driver.

Many harsh words have been exchanged in a public back-and-forth waged daily in the Los Angeles papers between the McCourts’ divorce lawyers.

The guys they brought on board to do battle are extremely experienced LA attorneys with storerooms full of high-profile celeb divorce paperwork. Suffice it to say, their billing rates are ample, and every cent comes out of the Dodgers’ bottom line.

Some of the harshest rhetoric surrounds Jamie McCourt’s role as President/CEO of the Dodgers, and whether her efforts helped or hindered the team in the first place.  (BREAKING: As this item went to press, the court denied Jamie’s attempts to be reinstated as CEO.)

Bill Shaikin of the LA Times has been a clutch journalist on the case, and here’s his wrapup of Jamie’s side of the story:

Jamie McCourt claims she was actively involved in the ownership and management of the team from day one, detailing her involvement in executive meetings, hiring and planning decisions, and marketing and community relations initiatives.

“I was the face of the Dodgers,” she claims.

Frank’s attorneys beg to differ:

The two sides also revived their debate on how integral Jamie McCourt has been to the success of the Dodgers’ operations, with attorneys for Frank McCourt belittling her assertion that she was “the face of the Dodgers.”

“There is no ‘face of the Dodgers,’ ” his attorneys wrote, “and, even if there were, dozens of Dodgers figures would rank ahead of Jamie McCourt. The conflict between Jamie McCourt’s focus on her self-image and the values of the Dodgers’ organization is irreconcilable.”

Dodgers President Dennis Mannion has opposed her reinstatement, alleging that Jamie McCourt seldom showed up for work on time, missed meetings and put her interests ahead of those of the team.

And furthermore…

Mannion denied Jamie McCourt’s claims that he had instructed team employees not to work with her and excluded her from management discussions and decisions. He said he would have welcomed her involvement had she shown up for work more often.

Mannion further alleged that Jamie McCourt focused on initiatives “designed to cultivate and promote her image as the highest ranking woman in Major League Baseball,” even when those activities “were not financially successful ventures and did not fit the strategic needs of the organization.”

The filing in particular cited DodgersWIN, described in her biography as a program that “brings women closer to the game, brings the game closer to women’s lifestyles, and helps inspire women to use their voices.”

That sounds like one of the stupidest ideas in the history of the game, second only to race-based discrimination. The game is the game, we don’t need to spend money making it “closer to women’s lifestyles.” Seems to me that plenty of women enjoy the game of baseball already without Jamie’s useless efforts. Are you kidding me with this??

Maybe if Jamie hadn’t wasted so much money on first-class accommodations and ludicrous programs like DodgersWIN, the team wouldn’t have had to essentially sell blue chip prospect Carlos Santana to the Indians — the SMALL MARKET CLEVELAND INDIANS — in order to save money in the acquisition of role player Casey Blake.

The sad fact is, while the Dodgers have won a fair amount of games in the McCourts’ tenure, those victories have been owed largely to ex-GM Dan Evans, who ran the team back when Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp was the owner.

Virtually every star Dodger was drafted during the Evans regime, or acquired with prospects drafted by Evans. That includes Matt Kemp, Jon Broxton, James Loney, Andre Ethier, Russell Martin, and Chad Billingsley. Manny Ramirez was acquired by trading Evans’ pick Andy LaRoche.

There’s one notable exception — star lefty Clayton Kershaw was chosen by the McCourts’ GM, Ned Colletti — but with the 7th pick in the draft you’d damn well better get yourself a guy with huge upside.

Under the McCourts’ penurious regime, the Dodgers have gutted their once-robust commitment to international scouting.

The result of dealing prospects for cash and skimping on bonuses is that the Dodgers’ once-stellar minor league organization (this is a team that once churned out five straight NL Rookies of the Year) is now one of the worst in baseball.

[T]he Dodgers have done relatively little to replenish the organization. Baseball America last spring ranked the Dodgers’ farm system 23rd among the 30 teams.

Gordon and pitcher Chris Withrow emerged as elite prospects this season, but the minor league depth is limited by the Dodgers’ limited investment in it.

The Dodgers have paid $8.5 million in signing bonuses for draft picks over the last two years — the lowest figure among all major league teams, according to Baseball America.

The Dodgers, so proud of their heritage in Asia and Latin America, today are a non-factor in bidding for top amateur players abroad. In 2008, according to Baseball America, major league clubs combined to sign 115 such players for bonuses of more than $100,000. The Dodgers did not sign one.

“They’re definitely not the pioneering team they were,” Baseball America editor John Manuel said. “They’ve squandered that advantage.”

Dodger Divorce points out that improvements to Dodger Stadium will surely be sidelined by the accelerating court proceedings.

Other observers, including Shaikin and LA columnist Bill Plaschke, accuse the McCourts of blowing a chance to acquire ace Cliff Lee — last seen mowing down Yankees in the World Series:

It has been written here countless times since the end of July that the Dodgers would have been a serious World Series contender if they had been able to trade for an available ace starter like Cliff Lee.

The Phillies acquired Lee instead, and it is the Phillies who are in the World Series this week, using Lee to steal a Game 1 victory from the New York Yankees.

The Dodgers finished second in the Lee sweepstakes this summer because the Cleveland Indians judged the Phillies’ prospects to be better. It turns out that the Dodgers didn’t improve their offer because the McCourts would rather invest in the cheaper lower-level minor leaguers than pay the remainder of Lee’s $6-million contract this year, plus his $9-million option next year.

Go away, McCourts. Now.

Sell the team and go live in one of your many mansions, or even better, pitch a tent in a parking lot.

(Oh, I forgot. News Corp foreclosed on those.)

Dodgers fans are being robbed blind by these two carpetbagging hedonists, and it’s only going to get worse from here unless they find a way to unload the team and do it soon.

Los Angeles deserves far better ownership than these two chumps.

With the 2009 season finally in the books (seriously, any longer and the Phillies could have avoided going back home from the Bronx and just gone straight to Florida for spring training), the real fun starts. Well, first, a thought from Ken Tremendous on the future of the Yankees:

Congrats to the Yankees, the best team in baseball. Let’s see how strong you are next year when Damon is replaced by…Matt Holliday. Shit.

Yep. That sounds about right.  Anyway, now that the offseason is starting – we’ve already seen two trades around MLB – we can focus on the always fun task of building the Dodgers for 2010. You might think that the very first step is finding out in the next few days whether Manny will choose his 2010 player option or go with free agency (spoiler alert: he’ll be back). You’d think that, and you’d be wrong, because as you should all know by now, this offseason is only going to be tangentially about baseball, with much of it being played out in the courtroom drama of the McCourt divorce mess.

The first shot in that war is going to be fired just under two hours from now, as Jamie intends to argue that she should be reinstated as Dodger CEO. The quickly-becoming-indispensible Dodger Divorce lets us know how we should be cheering:

A final thought.
The McCourts might have more at stake tomorrow than they’ve considered. As Craig Calcaterra notes, the McCourts’ best chance to keep the Dodgers is probably to arrive at “some kind of truce as soon as possible that would keep joint ownership to some degree.” If things get as bitter in court tomorrow as they’ve been in the filings and newspapers thus far, that would seem nearly impossible. If you’re a member of the majority (anti-McCourt) party, root for fireworks.

Fireworks, you say? Oh, I think we can do fireworks. Remember the accusations that Jamie had been unfaithful with a former Dodger employee, Pillsbury heir Jeff Fuller (who was either “the Director of Protocol” or “her driver”, which is kind of like saying “I’m the lead singer of Green Day” or “I’m the assistant to the  roadie”)?  There’s more fun stories coming out about him by the second:

This past weekend we posted a story that Jeff Fuller — who was fired by the Dodgers last month as either the Director of Protocol or a driver — was accused in 1995 by his then-wife of brutalizing her when she was 7 months pregnant …. pushing her into a wall and knocking her down. The wife — who now goes by Michele DesMarteau — got a restraining order against Jeff.

So he’s a domestic abuser! Or…

Jeff’s rep tells TMZ Jeff insists Michele did indeed recant her story.

So he was just taken advantage of by his jealous ex-wife! Or…

Michele also says Jeff lies about other things. She says he’s not a Pillsbury heir and in fact is always near broke. She says after hooking up with Jamie, he called and said he was now moving to Malibu. She says she was shocked he could live in Malibu because he didn’t pay child support. His response, she says: “I have a really good deal.”

Or he’s a total deadbeat liar. Then again, if he was really flat broke, what would Jamie want to do with him? This is a woman who couldn’t possibly live on less than $500,000 a month. Strap in, friends. This is going to suck your will to live.

Frank and Jamie McCourt are a classic case study in how to abdicate leadership and undermine the reputation of a franchise by trashing their own.

They presented themselves to Los Angeles five years ago as a duo committed to building the Dodgers franchise into the greatest ballclub. Their timing stripping away their marriage’s veneer in mid-October while the Dodgers played the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Championship was irresponsible.

How they handled their separation and divorce filings last month put narcissism on home plate. The Dodgers lost the National League Championship, making more than their share of errors. But no one struck out in this World Series more often than the McCourts.

Granted, it is no easy challenge for any couple to reign in ego when a business and marital partnership collapse; however, it is what leaders operating in the public domain are expected to know how to do.

Allowing festering problems to erupt out of control was reckless and put their soap opera power struggle in the media, instead of with private mediators. Not to work behind closed doors with the best advisors money could buy on how to handle their separation and division of assets abdicated leadership that the Dodgers and fans have a right to expect.

Jamie McCourt, who never let anyone forget she was the highest ranking woman in baseball, violated a basic leadership principle by abusing her power if as alleged she had a romantic relationship with a subordinate. Starting the relationship with her driver before her separation from her husband was announced, and then letting him continue to work in the Dodger organization showed poor judgment and disrespect for the Dodger workplace.

Frank McCourt’s tactics revealing his wife’s affair, undermining her role as CEO, and making public their asset allocation business strategy while married, may be designed to strengthen his hand as sole owner, but it also has the take-no-prisoner price of escalating the public battle which disrupts and makes more vulnerable the franchise they are fighting over.

Filed petitions and motions, Marie Antoinette-like demands for perks and spousal support, rolled out legal artillery in response, all the ingredients of the war each is fighting for what they believe is his or hers alone. And the legacy from this will be what?

Leaders who don’t know how to lead lose the public’s trust. Millions of Dodgers fans want to know if Manager Joe Torre will be able to put the competitive team on the field that he wants. They want to know where the leader is who will devote the skills, passion, and financial resources to making the Dodgers the number one priority. That question has yet to be answered.

Gael O’Brien        November 4, 2009

The Week in Ethics

It was previously reported on the MyFamilyLaw Celebrity Blog that the owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Frank McCourt, and his wife Jamie were divorcing. With the World Series ending this week, one may wonder how a sports team gets divided incident to a divorce.

Under Pennsylvania law, almost all assets acquired by either spouse between the date of their marriage until their separation are subject to division as part of a divorce. This is called equitable distribution. Although the assets are identified as of the date of separation, they are usually valued as of the date of the court hearing at which time the assets are to be valued. Although most people tend to think of the LA Dodgers (or any other sports team) as a group of usually well compensated individuals that play sports throughout the year, it is still a business. Therefore, the team has a value that can be ascertained. The difficulty will be in determining the fair market value of the team.

Sometimes when determining the fair market value of an item, you look at the price similar items are being selling. Sports teams are not sold that frequently. Nevertheless, business valuators can frequently ascertain the value of business no matter how unique it is. The My Family Law Celebrity Blog indicated that the Los Angeles Business Journal reported the team to be worth $722 million.

Although this may not come into play in the McCourt divorce, Pennsylvania law provides that personal goodwill is not a marital asset subject to equitable distribution. Personal goodwill is that component of a business that is attributable to the efforts of the owner. From another perspective, look at what the business would be worth if the owner were not involved. So, to the extent any portion of the value of the L.A. Dodgers was attributable to the personal efforts of Mr. McCourt, the value of the business is reduced.

Some businesses are solely dependent upon the services performed by the owner. Doctors, accountants, lawyers and other service professionals come to mind. However, sometimes there are other reasons why people utilize the services of such a professional. Maybe, you go to a particular doctor because the doctor is in your insurance plan. Maybe you see a particular accountant because her office is around the corner from your house. These factors would lessen the amount of personal goodwill in the business. In fact, it is not unheard of for professionals to sell their practices and clients get transferred to a new doctor, lawyer, etc.

It is not that common that a business, which is continuing in operation, has a value even if the business would be “nowhere” without the owner. Businesses usually own equipment, office furniture and other assets that can be valued.

Of course, if goes without saying that the Dodgers might have been worth more if they made it to the World Series.

So I’m at Game 1 of the National League Division Series, to watch the Dodgers duke it out with the Cardinals for the right to go on to the National League Championship Series and be embarrassed by the Phillies and their illustrious collection of such former Dodger legends as Shane Victorino, Jason Werth and the immortal Chan “2 Grand Slams In One Inning to Fernando Tatis” Park.

I’m camped out near the Dodger dugout before the game with my trusty Canon 40D, when I notice the nice looking fellow loitering near the railing. “Hey!” thinks I, “isn’t that the carpenter guy from Home and Garden Television?” (Okay, so once in awhile I watch something other than sports ).

I snap off several shots of what I believe is the tv tool belt model, whom I later google to identify as Eric Stromer.

Only in later comparing my photos to those on Google Images, I’m not sure it’s Stromer after all. Kind of looks like him, kind of doesn’t.

Then TMZ, hot on the trail of the Fightin’ McCourts, runs these shots of Jaime McCourt and her alleged new love interest. For those of you not following this fracas, the McCourts own the Dodgers. Or at least Jaime McCourt says they do (despite the fact she allegedly signed an agreement saying the team is 100% her husband Frank’s). Frank McCourt says he’s the sole owner of the team (despite miles and miles of film and tape over the last several years in which he proclaims Jaime co-owner of the team). Anyway, there’s a major power play going on for ownership and control of the Dodgers, with Frank firing Jaime for among other things, what he alleges was “inappropriate behavior with a subordinate”. For those of us who don’t speak corporate that means “boinking the help”.

I don’t know if Jaime did or did not do what Frank is accusing her of, and in her defense, the only one in the Dodger organization who was not subordinate to her was Frank, whom apparently she no longer wished to engage in that kind of behavior with, appropriate or otherwise.

Anyway, Dodger fans rightfully fear that the acrimonious dissolution proceeding between the McCourts may leave their beloved team in ruins. Which raises another question. Is Jaime’s new love interest destined to become the Dodgers’ Bartman?

Who is Bartman? As usual I direct your attention to Wikipedia:

“In the eighth inning of Game 6 of the National League Championship Series, with Chicago ahead 3-0 and holding a 3 games to 2 lead in the best of 7 series, several spectators attempted to catch a foul ball off the bat of Marlins’ second baseman Luis Castillo. One of the fans, Steve Bartman, touched the ball once it crossed into the stands, disrupting a potential catch by Cubs outfielder Moisés Alou. If Alou had caught the ball, it would have been the second out in the inning, and the Cubs would have been just four outs away from winning the National League pennant. Instead, the Cubs relinquished the lead that inning and then lost the game. When they were eliminated in the seventh game the next day, the “Steve Bartman incident” was seen as the turning point of the series…

“Bartman had to be led away from the park under security escort for his own safety as Cubs fans shouted profanities towards him and others threw debris onto the field and towards the exit tunnel from the field. News footage of the game showed him surrounded by security as passersby pelted him with drinks and other debris. Bartman’s name, as well as personal information about him, appeared on Major League Baseball’s online message boards minutes after the game ended.[11] As many as six police cars gathered outside his home to protect Bartman and his family following the incident.[3] Afterwards, then-Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich suggested that Bartman join a witness protection program, while then-Florida Governor Jeb Bush offered Bartman asylum.[1]”

As previously stated, I only know what I read in the papers. I don’t know for a fact if Jaime McCourt does or does not have a love interest. If she does, I don’t know if the relationship developed before or after she and Frank separated. Even if it was before, she may be rich, she may be very smart, but she’s human. She’d be no different than the endless sea of others who have given in to temptation while technically pledged to another.

But If the McCourt dissolution does in fact wreck the Dodgers, is it possible that Dodger fans may come to view the source of that temptation as the west coast version of Bartman?

So of course I was very curious to see the guy that allegedly came between the McCourts. And when I took a look at the photos on TMZ, it occurred to me that he also resembled the guy that I had photographed standing near the Dodgers dugout. If it wasn’t Eric Stromer, could it be Jaime’s guy?

I went back to my photos for another look. It does look like the guy I photographed could be the same guy seen in the TMZ photos. Or maybe it is Eric Stromer. Or someone else entirely. I need forensics I don’t have to make a definitive call.

These pictures were taken before the separation became public, but if it turns out that this nice looking fellow is in fact Jaime’s new squeeze, then you have to marvel at the balls the two of them had to both be parading around together a few feet from the owner’s box that Jaime shares with Frank during the first game of the National League Division Series.

Article and photographs copyright Steve Neimand

By Steven Booth

This is the twenty-first World Series in a row I’ve seen without the Dodgers in it. While one one hand I admit that I watch the Phillies and Yankees battle it out with lots of “what ifs” and “if onlys”, on the other hand I also admit that the right teams made it.

The Yankees spending is paying off. C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnette and Mark Teixera delivered the goods for the exorbitant amount the Steinbrenners paid for them. The Phillies, with some big help from Cliff Lee, are proving that they are more than a Florida Marlins passing fancy.

The Dodgers had a fine year, and they continue to make progress toward being one of those championship teams, provided the McCourts don’t tear them to shreds. Their hitting was fine, and while their pitching was solid all season, it wasn’t championship caliber. Hopefully the McCourts will take time away from shredding each other in public and give Ned Colletti something to work with.

The Mc Court thing gets uglier and uglier. Frank fired Jamie unceremoniously from her CEO position, and it came out that Jamie had an affair with her bodyguard.  Jamie officially filed for divorce and is suing to have herself reinstated as the team’s CEO.

“Frank has no right to purport to terminate me. We are co-owners of the Dodgers,” she said. “Not only has Frank publicly held us out as co-owners of the franchise, he has also admitted this fact in front of our estate planning counsel.”

In a filing submitted by the Dodgers that opposes her return to the team, Dodgers attorneys allege that Jamie McCourt took a trip with her bodyguard, Jeff Fuller, in early July to Israel on team business, but then headed to France for 2 1/2 weeks and billed the Dodgers for the trip. Jamie McCourt is also accused of not giving her husband any information about her assignments as chief executive and not providing the team with her schedule of public appearances.

It’s sad, but TMZ.com has become the primary source for Dodger news before the Los Angeles Times or the Daily News. It would be nice to debate things in the offseason like “Which pitcher will the Dodgers sign” or “is Manny coming back?” but it’s looking like that will not be the case.

On Tuesday, Jamie McCourt filed to divorce her husband, Frank McCourt, who is a co-owner of the Dodgers baseball team.  Frank McCourt fired Jamie McCourt from her position as the Dodgers CEO last week.

Jamie McCourt

Jamie McCourt alleges that her husband created a hostile work environment for her as their marriage began to deteriorate.  She said that she filed a formal complaint about the hostile work environment with the Dodgers’ general counsel last month.

In her divorce filing, Jamie McCourt is asking to be reinstated as CEO of the Dodgers and to receive her salary and all of the perks that she previously enjoyed, such as travel by private Net Jets planes and unlimited reimbursements for travel expenses.

——————-

Rate my boss with eBossWatch

Because even though we all knew this divorce case was going to be messy, it’s already so far out of control that it might spin the planet right off its orbit. So what better solution than for me to drum up some investors and take over the club myself?

So… anyone know any billionaires looking to make a PR splash?

Where do I start here? Diamond Leung has a shot of Jamie’s monthly living requests. 6-4-2 has links to a possible 911 call by Jamie against Frank, Jamie’s possible new man – a former Dodger employee – and a great dig at her ridiculous claim to be “face of the Dodgers”. Plus, TMZ – and yes, I just linked to TMZ as though it were an actual news organization, so kill me now – has the details of Jamie’s demands. At least Jon @ Dodger Thoughts sees a possible silver lining to this nightmare:

Some fear the divorce proceeding will hamper the Dodgers’ offseason plans, and for good reason. On the other hand, isn’t this the time when you buy the kids a nice pony to take their mind off the ugliness?

This whole mess is so bad, that T.J. Simers’ latest column is nothing if not the voice of reason. T.J. Simers! As painful as it might be, let’s look at what Jamie actually wants here, from TMZ:

Here are the benefits Jamie is requesting:
- travel by private jet
- 5 star hotel accommodations
- travel expenses – Unlimited
- business dinners 5 nights per week
- business lunches 5 days per week
- parking spots at Dodger Stadium
- flowers in the office
- making Dodger Legends available for events without charge
- provision of Dodger autographed items as requested for use in business and charitable activities
- hair and makeup for Dodger events
- access to team doctors for McCourt family members
- access to the owner’s suite for Dodger home games and non-baseball events at the stadium
- Tickets to All-Star games and playoff games — even if the Dodgers aren’t playing
- a pass to all National League games

Then there’s this: Jamie lists her monthly living expenses at $488,928 — THAT’S PER MONTH!!!!!!!!
Of those expenses, $333,000 goes towards her residence and vacation homes.

I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. You rich asshole. You’re spending nearly $500k per month, and you were mocking Dodger fans for wanting to get Manny instead of building parks for kids? And then there’s this - which just kills me – from Bill Shaikin’s story, in regards to Jamie’s claim that she didn’t understand the community property document she signed:

Marshall Grossman, an attorney for Frank McCourt, noted that Jamie McCourt has practiced law, including family law.

“Jamie McCourt saying she didn’t understand what she signed is like John Hancock saying he didn’t understand the Declaration of Independence when he signed it,” Grossman said.

*snicker*. I despise having to write about this, but it’s pretty clearly going to be a big story all offseason. As Jon says, they have “torched themselves in the Los Angeles community”, and this all brings me back to what I said in our open letter to them last week:

Don’t let your personal issues get in the way of the enjoyment of millions of Dodger fans around the world, because if – as seems likely – this devolves into a path of scorched earth and courtroom rhetoric that leads to the selling off of assets on the field and a string of losing seasons like in San Diego, you might still own the team, and you might have won in the eyes of the law, but you’ll still be a pariah in the eyes of Dodger fans everywhere.

Fix this quickly and privately, or sell the team. Now. You may be striving for the spotlight, but you’re not bigger than the Dodgers, and it’s your association with them that’s brought you fame – not vice versa.

I think I speak for a lot of Dodger fans right now when I say, we hate you both. (To be fair, Jamie a lot more.) Please sell. Please. Sell.

Author: Anonymous
Source: free-articles

PRESS RELEASE

FROM:, japanese incense
, TREATY STONE PUBLISHING.

ASHES POUR FROM LIMERICK LANES TO CYBERSPACE

American e-book publishing giants Greatunpublished.com have this week launched the electronic edition, japanese incense
, of Limerickman Gerard Hannan’s controversial, japanese incense
, national bestseller โ€˜ASHES’ which was written and published in response to Frank McCourt’s international multi-million sales ANGELA’S ASHES.

According to Kathy Lindenmayer, Assistant Editor at Greatunpublished, โ€œI can say unequivocally that Mr. Hannan is the first Irish author whose book is for sale globally as both an e-book and paperback title and we are very excited and thrilled about the launch.โ€

Hannan, who is about to embark on a short American promotional tour opening with a speaking engagement at the College Of Charleston in October has confirmed his excitement at the prospect of global sales for his book.

โ€˜Since the outset of my campaign to have the other side of Frank McCourt’s story told I have never dreamed that an opportunity like this would come along,’ he said this week.

Hannan is also hoping that his second, japanese incense
, book โ€˜TIS IN ME, japanese incense
, ASS’ will also become available at Greatunpublished, japanese incense
, later this month.

ASHES, japanese incense
, is available in paperback or electronic form at http://www.greatunpublished.com

ENDS

CONTACTS:

Gerard Hannan

Limerick: 061 315668

Mobile: 087 4186081

Kathy Lindenmayer (Assistant Editor)

Greatunpublished.com

USA โ€” 001 -8435790000

____________________________________________

FURTHER INFORMATION:

What, japanese incense
, other papers have had to say on this debate:

There was an old town…

By Paul Daffey /Evening Standard

Two families were feuding over ascendancy in the drug trade. A member of one family was walking along, japanese incense
, a footpath when a car sidled up to the kerb. A member of the opposing family jumped out of the car and stabbed the pedestrian in the stomach – with a pitchfork.

The weapon of choice threw a rural twist on an urban tale. It was emblematic of an Ireland that, in the final decades of last century,, japanese incense
, was wrangling with itself over the shift from rural backwater to urban dynamism.

The pitchfork incident could have taken place in Dublin or Cork, maybe even the light-spirited Galway, but somehow this seemed unlikely. Right or wrong, it did suggest merit behind Limerick’s reputation as Stab City.

It is a reputation that Limerick hates, largely because it is distasteful, but also because the sobriquet was applied 30 years ago and the city has changed since then.

In the ’70s, the development of high-tech industries and the University, japanese incense
, of Limerick, which specialises in science and technology, brought a measure of wealth and vitality, japanese incense
, to the city. But it also created an income gap, with residents of rugged housing estates resenting the new order.

Crime and violence were the inevitable result. The rest of the country, japanese incense
, gained the, japanese incense
, impression that stabbings were frequent. It titillated some to think of Limerick, with its reputation for inwardness and pious Catholicism, as a bloody frontier.

Violence in Limerick lessened in the ’90s after, among other things, the formation of “combat poverty” groups with funds from the European Union. EU money was also put towards restoration, japanese incense
, of the town’s fading buildings.

The Civic Trust, formed in the late ’80s as the first restoration body in Ireland, was instrumental in giving the worn city a facelift that impressed the rest of the country, although not enough to stop the stabbing slurs and the tittering.

Limerick is proud of its recovery but, after years of scorn, it is defensive. When the, japanese incense
, Angela’s Ashes phenomenon broadcast the city’s folly to the world, it became too much for some.

Frank McCourt’s depiction of the squalor in the city by the River Shannon in the 1930s and ’40s raised the hackles of one resident so much that he bothered to write a retort. Ashes, Gerard Hannan’s memoir of a rosier childhood in Limerick, has hardly set sales records but the author considers its publication a success.

Described disparagingly in the Limerick Post as a bookseller and part-time disc jockey, Hannan was reported in that newspaper as saying that Angela’s Ashes should be reclassified as fiction.

“I think it has been a successful campaign because there are people out there now saying this (the book) is not 100 per cent accurate. This is the object of the exercise, so mission accomplished.”

His crusade also includes talkback sessions on his radio program. A good percentage, japanese incense
, of callers support his sunny view of the city’s past. The dissenters, according to the Limerick Post, get cut off, an act the newspaper describes on its website as that of a schoolyard bully. The fact that he only polled 65 votes in recent local elections only adds to their scorn.

“He can hardly be said to represent the views of the people of Limerick,” the Post says. “While, japanese incense
, he accuses McCourt of holding up our city of the past to ridicule and condemnation, he, in the guise of being Limerick’s champion, is only exposing our modern-day Limerick to mockery.”

Frank Larkin, the public relations officer for Shannon Development, says half the city claims the poverty in the book is exaggerated. “People felt it reflected poorly. They claim they had happy childhoods and were happy in Limerick. You have that dichotomy of discussion. But there’s certainly a contrast between what Frank McCourt described and today.”

He says Alan Parker, the creator of the Angela’s Ashes movie, barely filmed in Limerick because the city now lacks the requisite decay. “We weren’t able to come up with any of those buildings and lanes because there weren’t any left. They had to go to Dublin and Cork to find rundown buildings and derelict lanes…nothing against the people of Dublin and Cork.”

Larkin is unable to put a figure on Angela’s Ashes importance to the city, although he admits it has become a huge selling point. Other, japanese incense
, attractions include castles, cathedrals, Georgian architecture, the Limerick Expo in March and the International Marching Bands Festival, also, japanese incense
, in, japanese incense
, March, which attracts 40,000 people.

The, japanese incense
, city’s, japanese incense
, push – and for that matter Ireland’s push – to improve, japanese incense
, the poor quality of mid-range restaurants has spawned the International Food Festival, which is held annually, and the Good Food Circle of Restaurants. We tried only the Mogul Emperor in Henry Street, where the food was much like Indian food anywhere in the Western world.

Limerick might be trying to improve its culinary standing but it has no doubts about its sporting prowess. The city thumps its chest about being Ireland’s sporting, japanese incense
, capital. It is, at best, a dubious claim, but one that receives support every autumn when Limerick hosts the battles between Munster and touring rugby sides from the Antipodes. Munster, the province that takes in the six counties in Ireland’s south-west, attacks the touring teams with a fervor that inevitably attracts “Gael force” headlines. In 1978, the attack was so effective that Munster defeated New Zealand, a feat that was barely believed across Europe, and less so in New Zealand. The victory, japanese incense
, remains an Irish side’s only win over the All Blacks and it is not surprising that each player was guaranteed free pints for life.

At a humbler level,, japanese incense
, Limerick soon will be the home of Ireland’s first 50-metre swimming pool. In recent years it has hosted the World Medical Games and the UK and Ireland Corporate Games. The World Soccer Cup for Lawyers is also on the list of achievements, although it must be said a city is trying too hard when it celebrates playing host to thousands of lawyers.

The city has, japanese incense
, every right, however, to claim a rich history. Its city charter, drawn up in 1197, is the oldest in the British Isles, which includes Ireland and Britain, and King John’s, japanese incense
, Castle is a feature of the Heritage Precinct. The castle, built at the beginning of the 13th century, was the stronghold of the British empire in western Ireland and its presence is a reminder of Limerick’s struggles under a hated foreign power. The Heritage Precinct also includes the Castle Lane project, which is the reconstruction, japanese incense
, of a street from two centuries ago.

Downriver are the docks, which are undergoing a makeover not seen since the Vikings sailed up the Shannon in the ninth century. A handful, japanese incense
, of pubs in the city centre have, japanese incense
, also been refurbished. Some are modern and gleaming, but I preferred those with a traditional touch, such as WJ South’s on O’Connell Street. South’s is where Uncle Pa Keating bought the 16-year-old Frank McCourt his first pint. It looks like your average poky Irish pub from the street but opens out generously inside. It was a local for the men from the lanes of Limerick; now the clientele ranges from young professionals to older regulars. The floorboards and de{AAC}cor have been tastefully scrubbed up and Pa Keating would probably wonder where all the sawdust on the floor had gone. The bulldust, though, remains as thick on the ground as ever.

The Limerick banter is fun. Wit and irony are staples and all sentences are delivered with a delightful lilt., japanese incense
, The accent is less distinctive than the sing-song carry-on in neighboring Cork but, since the publication of Angela’s Ashes, the language of Limerick is among the most distinctive in the world. Which, if anyone were in any doubt, just goes, japanese incense
, to show that the pen is mightier than the pitchfork.

Struggles of the artist

When you’re Jewish, Irish, japanese incense
, or Palestinian,

The,, japanese incense
, japanese incense
, question of identity is a troubling one.

Gary Younge /Guardian, japanese incense
, Newspaper

Josephine is on line four.”You, japanese incense
, alright Ger?” she calls out to Limerick’s, japanese incense
, late night radio DJ Gerard Hannan. She doesn’t need to say who she is. Hannan recognises her voice. Like Whispering Phyllis,, japanese incense
, Giggling, japanese incense
, Breeda, Peg, who, japanese incense
, sings a song over the phone once a week, and Jim from Oola, who likes to play the listeners tunes from his gramophone, Josephine is a regular who punctuates Limerick’s late-night airwaves with local banter.

It is the night of the premiere of the film, Angela’s Ashes, the Pulitzer prize winning story of Frank McCourt’s impoverished childhood in Limerick, and Josephine is in the mood for reminiscing. Josephine says she used to play bingo with Angela and she cannot recognise her in the wan character portrayed in the book. “She had big, fat jaws and her body was as fat as mine,” she says. “I’m the same age as Frank McCourt and I don’t remember cobblestones or anything like that.”

And so it goes on, all night, most nights. With Hannan’s encouragement – he has already made a name and is fast making a career out of criticising the book – Limerick’s older citizens call to complain that their story has not been told. “Poverty is nothing to be ashamed of but he has misrepresented the innocent people of this town,” says Hannan. McCourt, japanese incense
, was born in America, came to Limerick as a young boy and left, japanese incense
, for the States as a young man.

“He came here from America, he didn’t like it and then he left. But a lot of people stayed and made a life there and there was a great spirit that is not reflected in Angela’s Ashes which is the, japanese incense
, fruit of bitterness and begrudgery, japanese incense
, . When they [the older citizens of Limerick look back on their childhood they did not see themselves as miserable, Irish Catholics, japanese incense
, . It’s a beautifully written book. But it’s not about the real Limerick. My problem with it is that he should have called it what it was: a work of fiction.”

But, japanese incense
, this is, japanese incense
, more than a battle between fact and fiction. Some accuse McCourt of straying from the truth by exaggerating his impoverished upbringing in the lanes; but even more are annoyed by the fact that he remained too faithful to real life by putting local people’s real names, japanese, japanese incense
, incense
, in the book and relating accounts of his mother’s sex life. Many will argue, in the same sentence, that he was both too honest and not honest enough, japanese incense
, .

What is at stake here is the question of authenticity. It is a faultline that goes beyond the pages of Angela’s Ashes and the streets of Limerick to the arbitrary codes and signifiers which define identity. It is the yardstick we use to determine who is and who is not eligible for inclusion in the panoply of tribes which are available to us such as class, religion, race, ethnicity and region. It provides the parameters for describing who we are, and often what we can say.

The consequences of these issues are far from academic., japanese incense
, In Israel a debate is raging over who, for purposes of immigration,, japanese incense
, qualifies as a Jew. When the country’s law of return was passed in 1950, anyone with even one Jewish grandparent had an automatic right to Israeli citizenship. Now that people of Jewish descent are pouring in from eastern Europe there is a move afoot to redefine, japanese incense
, what it is to be a Jew. “These are not people who are suffering from, japanese incense
,, japanese incense
, anti-semitism or who have any connection to the Jewish people,” said Yuli Edelstein, the deputy speaker of the Knesset. If they do change the rules it could mean that people who were sufficiently Jewish to be gassed by the Nazis will not be Jewish enough to enter Israel.

You can hear it in John Prescott’s tortured accounts of his own social standing. A few years ago, when he was deputy leader of the opposition, he provoked great intrigue by describing himself as “middle class”. Last year, when he was on a higher salary, japanese incense
, and wielding greater power as deputy prime minister, he had returned to the toiling masses. “Make no mistake about it. I’m proud of being working class,” he says. “I’m not changing my attitude or culturing my voice or even getting my grammar correct.”

Last year, critics of the intellectual Edward Said raised doubts about, japanese incense
, his, japanese, japanese incense
, incense
, credentials as a refugee as a means of trying to discredit his entire body of work on the Middle East. “I had, japanese incense
, never had much respect for the intellectual integrity of Professor Said,” said a spokesman for the former rightwing Israeli government. “This proves that my suspicions were not groundless, japanese incense
, .” The attack put Said in the Kafkaesque situation of brandishing documents to prove that he is in fact, japanese incense
, who he has always said he was.

But there was more at stake, he believed, than his own integrity. “It is an attempt,” said Said, “to pre-empt the process of return and compensation for the Palestinians. It is a way of furthering the argument that the Palestinians never belonged in Palestine… If someone like Edward Said is a liar, runs the argument, how can we believe all those peasants who, japanese incense
, say they were driven off their land?… It is part of the attempt to say that none of this actually happened.” Undermine Said’s authenticity, went the logic, and you undermine the credibility of the Palestinian cause.

And so it goes on. To have had the real Limerick experience you have to have stayed; to be truly Jewish you must have suffered from anti-semitism; to be working class you need bad grammar. Each assertion reveals an attempt to establish the idea that identities are fixed, universal and cohesive when in, japanese incense
, fact they are fluid, varied and disparate.

None of which is to say that the complaints about Angela’s Ashes are not understandable. McCourt has dismissed his detractors’ complaints by insisting that Angela’s Ashes is “a memoir, not an exact history”. But,, japanese incense
, since the lives of Limerick’s working class rarely make it, japanese incense
, to the international stage, it is not unreasonable for them to want to see themselves portrayed accurately and sensitively.

It is a constant irritation to those on the margins that they are often ill-represented by those who make it into the mainstream. “We who survived the camp are not true witnesses,” wrote Primo Levi of his time in a Nazi concentration camp. “We, the survivors, are not only a tiny but an anomalous minority. We are those who through prevarication, skill or luck never touched bottom, japanese incense
, . Those who have,, japanese incense
, and have seen the face of the Gorgon,, japanese incense
, did not return, or returned wordless.”

The burden of representation on those who do emerge from desperate circumstances is a heavy one. But that is no excuse to try to deny the validity of their voice. In the case of Angela’s, japanese incense
, Ashes there is, of course, no such thing as the Limerick experience but, instead, several Limerick experiences.

Nobody voted for McCourt so he is under no obligation to represent anyone. The story that McCourt told is not Limerick’s but his own.

Angela’s Ashes Rakes Up A Storm

Alex Renton/London Time Out

There’s, japanese incense
, a cruel joke going round Limerick about the movie that’s to

open in the city next Wednesday, japanese incense
, . “Worse than the film of an, japanese incense
, ordinary

miserable childhood is the film of a miserable Irish childhood, and

worse yet is the film of the miserable Irish Catholic childhood, japanese incense
, .”

This will mean little to anyone who has not, japanese incense
, read Frank McCourt’s

Angela’s Ashes, but the millions who have ploughed through the

1990s’, japanese incense
, best-selling example of tears ‘n’ smiles Irish ghetto

literature will spot, japanese incense
, the parody of the book’s first paragraphs.

Some people in Limerick are utterly fed up with Angela’s Ashes and

its story of the McCourt children who lived in the city’s slums

(excepting those who died in the family’s communal bed) in the

middle of this century. There are those who don’t believe Frank

McCourt’s memoir, and those, such as Brendan Halligan, editor of the

Limerick Leader, who wish Angela, the Ashes and everyone else would

just go away. The book is a ghost haunting modern Limerick life: “It

overshadows everything.”

Arguments over the veracity of McCourt’s account have, in the three

year’s since publication, caused endless fuss. The Limerick Leader

is well-used to receiving letters that point out, japanese incense
, flaws in the

McCourt children’s saga, and the filming has touched nerves again.

“Frank McCourt’s book,” said a recent editorial wearily, “generated

more controversy in Limerick than anything since the opening of the

interpretative centre in King John’s Castle.” And that was more than

six years ago.

Nearly 200 Limerick people, japanese incense
, have undertaken to demonstrate outside

the screening, in defence of their city’s good name. That’s hardly

surprising – for Limerick,, japanese incense
,, japanese incense
, her cruel streets, hard-hearted

shopkeepers and hypocritical clergy, is the chief villain, the prime

child abuser of Angela’s Ashes.

Brendan Halligan says: “It is difficult to understand how a gloomy,

depressing and backward look at a make-believe Limerick would

necessarily, japanese incense
, show today’s real Limerick in a kindly light,”, japanese incense
, he wrote,

opposing the campaign to get the film to come home. “Good riddance

to it.”

There’s no question that Limerick has changed since McCourt’s day.

The Irish boom and economic aid from Brussels have seen the city’s

slums transformed – indeed the city is quite proud that Alan

Parker’s team were unable to find a suitable tenement “lane” for

filming in Limerick, (they had to build their own slum in a car park

in Dublin instead). John O’Regan, who organises Angela’s Ashes tours

at ยฃ4-a-head for fans who arrive weepily from across the world,

enjoys showing off the business centre and apartment blocks that now

dominate the, japanese incense
, old red-light district of the Shannon docks. Even

Sutton’s Coalyard, outside which Angela and her sons scavenged for

fuel,, japanese incense
, is now Jury’s Inn, a “posh” hotel.

But it is not the fact that Parker and McCourt’s Limerick maligns

today’s Limerick that will cause the demonstrations, japanese incense
, outside the

Dooradoyle Omniplex on Wednesday. Those will be staged by the people

who simply don’t believe the story told in Angela’s Ashes. “A few

fanatics and self-publicists” is how sensible Limerick dismisses

them, japanese incense
, (though sensible Limerick asks not to be named – it’s a small

city). But the anti-McCourtists include, japanese incense
, men who were at school with

McCourt, japanese incense
, . Men like Paddy Malone, who, when Frank McCourt returned to

Limerick for a book-signing, asked the author if he remembered him

and then ripped the book in half, shouting: “You’re a disgrace to

Ireland, the Church and your mother.” Malone is now threatening to

sue McCourt.

There is, in fact, a mini-industry in getting at Frank McCourt. Two

contemporaries have published their own accounts, japanese incense
, of their happier

Limerick childhoods, while a local bookshop owner and disc-jockey,

Gerard Hannan, has published Ashes – a “true story of two brothers

growing up in the Limerick Lanes”. Next week he will publish a

sequel to that book, just as McCourt has published ‘Tis, his own

sequel to Angela’s Ashes. The new book is cheekily titled, japanese incense
, ‘Tis in Me

Ass – authentic, japanese incense
, Limerick street slang, apparently. Hannan,, japanese incense
, whose

hounding of McCourt has taken him from US TV news to Melvyn Bragg’s

South Bank Show, says, japanese incense
, he is simply attempting, japanese incense
, to right a grievous

wrong done to Limerick’s reputation and, japanese incense
, history. “You will, japanese incense
, have been

led to understand that I am a two-headed lunatic,” he says gravely.

“But there are hundreds of people behind me, and I have letters from

across the world to prove it.”

Such disputes are part of the territory – an almost inevitable

after-effect of making money out of live history is that others who

were there too will stand up to argue about what really happened.

And, of course, McCourt has many defenders. His editor at

HarperCollins, Philip Gwyn Jones, follows, japanese incense
, the common argument that

McCourt’s story is a memoir, it doesn’t claim to be autobiography.

Behind the subjective reporting is greater truth. “People come up to

Frank,, japanese incense
, who, japanese incense
, were either there, or knew someone who was at that time

And say, “Oh, Frank, you’ve got it all wrong: Mrs. So and so didn’t

live at number 7, it was number 5.” Maybe he did get little facts

wrong, but it is a work of non-fiction, and he has, japanese incense
, written it as

true, japanese incense
, as he can remember. Of course we support Frank’s interpretation

as plausible and authentic. But the truth looks different to every

different pair of eyes. That’s the nature of historical truth.”

The problem for the pro-McCourt camp is that their man’s mistakes

are just the one’s that are likely to cause maximum offence among

the people of Limerick, and the, japanese incense
, guardians of the truth. Queuing at

that Limerick book-signing was another contemporary from the

Limerick Lanes, Willie Harold. Mr. Harold, now dead, appears in the

book at his first confession,, japanese incense
, telling a priest how he has sinned,

looking at his sister’s naked body. The problem, japanese incense
, is, Mr. Harold never had a sister. Many older Limerick people are incensed at the

portrait of Angela herself. There’s no doubt that Mrs. McCourt would

not like her son’s portrayal. Shortly before she died, in 1981, she

was taken to see Frank and brother Malachy perform a stage show

about, japanese incense
, their early lives. She stormed out, shouting: “It didn’t

happen that way. It’s all a pack of lies.”

Other stories have emerged that throw doubt on McCourt’s

reliability. The clergy of 1940s Limerick – where “you couldn’t

throw a brick without hitting a priest” – come particularly poorly

out of the book. Recently McCourt told the Los Angeles Times that

the film-makers weren’t allowed to use any of Limerick’s churches,

because local clergy, led by the, japanese incense
, Bishop of Limerick,, japanese incense
, opposed the

film. When the Limerick journalists investigated this claim they

found that only one church, that of the Redemptorists, had refused

to co-operate with filming. The Bishop’s office had gone out of

their way to help – a fact that the film’s producer’s confirmed.

No one in Limerick denies that there was, japanese incense
, awful poverty in the city

60 years ago, but further investigation has led them to wonder just

how poor the McCourts really were. Some people have pointed out how

fat Angela and some of the children were, while the Limerick Leader

dug up photographs of McCourt in his boy scout’s uniform. Scouting

was expensive and usually for middle-class boys – “Is this the

picture, japanese incense
, of misery?” asked the newspaper.

Perhaps the most sensible verdict comes from another Limerick

contemporary, a John Conran who lives now in Birmingham. He wrote to

the Limerick Leader after reading McCourt’s book, to say how much he

had enjoyed it. ” I lived in Limerick at the, japanese incense
, time. I had nine

sisters and one brother. I did not feel all that misery. I enjoyed

my schooldays at St Munchin’s, japanese incense
, CBS. We had the Shannon and the hills

on our doorstep, japanese incense
, . The problem with the McCourts was not Limerick, the

Church or the priests. The father was an alcoholic. He failed in New

York, the promised land. He would fail in any city – and did.”

John O’Regan, who on his Angela’s Ashes tours daily watches people

from all over the world weep as they remember the sufferings of

their own childhoods, says he knows Frank McCourt was not lying.

“I’ve seen enough people to know that Frank spoke for all of them.

What he wrote was his truth: Angela’s Ashes is a mirror of those

times.”

Additional reporting, japanese incense
, by Gita Mendis

Rising from the ashes

Anne Molloy/Irish News

Frank McCourt wrote in Angela’s Ashes that there was only one thing

worse than “a miserable Irish childhood”, japanese incense
, and that was “a miserable

Irish Catholic childhood.”

It was such strong and ultimately disparaging statements that made

McCourt’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel unforgettable, japanese incense
, and for it’s

detractors unforgivable.

For the three years since its publication Angela’s Ashes has

continued to cause rancor in his childhood home of Limerick where

there is a clear division between those who would like to pillory

the McCourts and those, like the former mayor, who want to give them

the freedom of the city.

“Lies, lies, lies, lies,” decried one Paddy Malone, who attended the

same school as the young McCourt, and claimed that Frank

“prostitutes his mother” in the book.

Another self-appointed McCourt opponent is Radio Limerick presenter

Gerard Hannan who sees Angela’s Ashes as a straightforward attack on

the, japanese incense
, city and its people and is publishing his own riposte โ€˜Tis in Me

Ass’ a play on McCourt’s second autobiographical work โ€˜Tis.’

McCourt has at times tried to distance himself from the continuing

row and said that the book was not about the city “it was, japanese incense
, about

poverty.”

But that is too much of an oversimplification by the author as a lot

of the anger from McCourt (and his younger brother Malachy) is

directed not at their alcoholic father but their downtrodden mother.

McCourt implies that Angela takes the boys to, japanese incense
, live at her cousin’s

home and sleeps with him in return for a roof over their heads when

Malachy, japanese, japanese incense
, incense
, finally deserts them, apparently for good.

The adolescent Frank makes it clear (as does his brother Malachy in

his own autobiography A Monk Swimming) that he cannot deal, japanese incense
, with the

situation and it would appear that they never forgave their mother

for this (though this does not mean they didn’t love her) and they

seem to have made their peace with their father before he died.

To outsiders this seems strange because Malachy (Snr) would appear

to have been at the root of most of the McCourt’s difficulties รฑ or

as one Limerick contemporary has pointed, japanese incense
, out “we were just as poor

but the difference was our father didn’t drink.”

Malachy McCourt (portrayed by outstanding British actor Robert

Carlyle in the film) was originally from Toome in Co Antrim and was

often decried by his wife’s family as the next best thing to a

Presbyterian, particularly because of the way his hair stood up: “He

had, japanese incense
, Protestant hair.”

He would be pleased to know that in, japanese incense
, some respects little has changed

in the intervening 50 years as an article about the film in the

Limerick, japanese incense
, Leader assured its readers recently.

“The specter that haunts Limerick is not that, japanese incense
, of Angela or any other

Limerick person but of her alcoholic Ulster husband.”

The geographical pinpointing of the source of the problem is

revealing in itself and goes a long way to rebuff the notion that

modern Limerick is at peace with itself and its new found wealth.

It’s often the hurry to forget the bad memories of an impoverished

past that reveals the insecurity, japanese incense
, of the nouveau riche.

Many of the older generation in Limerick (as elsewhere in Ireland)

are not keen to talk about the difficulties of past times and the

younger are too busy making money to care.

As Frank McCourt said: “My mother hated me uncovering the past: the

only place for confessions is to a priest, she thought: she wanted

curtains drawn over all the poverty and sordidness.”

And he admitted that writing the book was “similar to cleaning out

the sewers, dredging up that stuff.”

But he didn’t just sit down and write the book after he, japanese incense
, retired from

teaching, japanese incense
, in America, he was scribbling bits for years though he

didn’t complete it sooner “because all those years I was too busy

marking other people’s essays. And, japanese incense
, the timing wasn’t right. My

mother had to die and I think I had to grow up. And it took me a

long time.”

The fact that, japanese incense
, he waited until his mother’s death before publicising

their life together at least indicates that McCourt was not

indifferent to his mother’s feelings despite, japanese incense
, what his detractors

would have us believe.

When, japanese, japanese incense
, incense
, it came to filming Angela’s Ashes last year in Limerick there

was some nervousness on the part of director Alan Parker, who was

aware of the vocal opposition in some parts of the city to the book.

“It’s an exaggeration to say that there was enmity towards us making

the film in the city where it is based, but I think it’s fair to say

that there was some trepidation on our part, a feeling that we were

not entirely welcome but that could have, japanese, japanese incense
, incense
, been my own personal

paranoia.”

Parker, in his personal diary of the filming, is however critical of

the churches in Limerick who refused to let them film though he

admits they were treated “cordially”. Interior church scenes were

eventually filmed in Dublin and Parker does reveal the problems for

Churches of having, japanese incense
, a “hundred film crew noisily go about their

business, japanese incense
, particularly for a film which takes place in a period

before Vatican II.”

He also reveals the truism of the old adage of never working “with

animals or children” as Angela’s Ashes involved working with dozens

of children who portray not only the McCourts but their

contemporaries, japanese incense
, at different stage over a 15-year period.

“I have to say that, japanese incense
, these were the most difficult scenes I’ve ever

directed with young children, and I’ve done a considerable, japanese incense
, amount of

filming in this, japanese incense
, area. Although a shrieking child might be what

you’re after for the scene, you have to keep reminding yourself that

it’s not just the illusion of film and that, close by, behind the

set, stands the real mother of this small child, suffering

considerably herself as her offspring cries real tears for the

camera.”

Parker, who’s numerous films include that other Irish-based success

The Commitments, however is generous in his praise of Newry actor

Michael Legge who portrays Frank McCourt as an older adolescent.

“He has great subtlety and application and, as, japanese incense
, with all good actors

who make things look easy, there is a fierce intelligence at work.”

See, japanese incense
, you in court, McCourt

For local radio host/journalist and author

Gerry Hannan ‘Angela’s Ashes’ is a vicious slur on his city

Rob Brown/The Guardian (UK)

Frank McCourt must have done scores of interviews to plug ‘Tis, the

sequel to Angela’s Ashes, his global bestseller about growing up

dirt poor in the priest-ridden, rain-sodden slums of Limerick. But

all these encounters put together could not have been anywhere near

as painful as the prime-time television appearance he made, japanese incense
, back in

his native Ireland, japanese, japanese incense
, incense
, recently.

It wasn’t Pat Kenny, host of The Late Late Show, who gave him a hard

time. The trouble came, japanese incense
, from a member of the Dublin studio audience.

“You have been peddling lies about Limerick,” the man bellowed into

the microphone. “You are a liar, a self-confessed liar.” McCourt

could only raise his arms to the heavens and appeal to his accuser

in his strange but weirdly soothing mid-Atlantic accent: “I don’t

know why you’re so obsessed with me. Why don’t you get a life and go

and do something?”

His plea fell on deaf ears, for a large part of Gerry Hannan’s life

is now devoted to stirring up controversy around, japanese incense
, McCourt. His

personal crusade to “set the record straight” will crank up a gear

next week when the movie, japanese incense
, version of Angela’s Ashes rolls on to

cinema screens. Hannan, who combines local broadcasting with running

a second-hand bookshop in Limerick, has even penned two books as

direct ripostes to McCourt’s memoirs. The first was called simply

Ashes. The second, due for release next week, is even more

opportunistically entitled ‘Tis In Me Ass, an expression straight

from the language of the Lanes, the now notorious backstreets on the

north side of Limerick where McCourt endured his miserable childhood.

The main outlet for Hannan’s literary vendetta isn’t, japanese incense
, his books รฑ

which will never rival their targets in the bestseller lists รฑ but

the late-night phone-in programme he presents on Limerick 95. The

radio station provides a regular platform for critics of McCourt,

who seem to be both numerous and vocal in the author’s,, japanese incense
, japanese incense
, native city.

No one is getting terribly worked up about ‘Tis, which tells of

young,, japanese incense
, japanese incense
, Frank’s escape from Limerick to America and what he found

there. Hannan’s tribute to “the people who didn’t run off to America

but instead stayed at home to help build a city” doesn’t pack

anywhere, japanese incense
, near the same animus as Ashes, which was a far more pointed

attack on Angela’s Ashes.

According to his arch critic, McCourt’s upbringing wasn’t anywhere

near as brutal as he makes out. “When you read Angela’s Ashes, it’s

misery, misery, misery all the way,” says Hannan, japanese incense
, . “That’s not how it

is remembered by anyone else who lived there. Of course there was a

lot of poverty and suffering, but there was also a great spirit to

the place. People helped each other through the hard times.” For

him, the situation was best summed up by an elderly listener who

called in to say: “Ger, everyone loves Frank McCourt except the

people who knew him. And everyone loves Angela’s Ashes except the

people who know the truth.”

Angela’s Ashes is a particularly searing account of the author’s

childhood in the, japanese incense
, Lanes of Limerick, depicted as a living hell where

he and his brothers (those who didn’t die in the cot), japanese incense
, begged for

food while neighbours looked on with cruel indifference and the

local Catholic clergy humiliated the most wretched members of its

flock.

The book, which won the 1997, japanese incense
, Pulitzer prize for biography, begins

with this now famous, japanese incense
, opening passage: “When I look back on my

childhood I wonder how I survived, japanese, japanese incense
, incense
, it at all. It was, of course, a

miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while.

Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish

childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood.”

Ger, as his fans affectionately address him, seems,, japanese incense
, japanese incense
, a bit of a local

hero in Limerick. When we met up in the city’s Bewley’s cafรฉ

(Dublin’s famous coffee house has become a fast-growing, japanese incense
, chain),

several people came up to tell him what a grand job he was doing or

to, japanese incense
, alert him to some local injustice he should sort out on the

airwaves. Hannan claims to have received a hero’s welcome, japanese incense
, after his

showdown with McCourt on The Late Late Show. “I think they wanted

his head, japanese incense
, brought back to Limerick on a plate,” he recalled, beaming.

He admits to having got,, japanese incense
, japanese incense
, a frostier reception at the University of

Limerick, which conferred an honorary degree on McCourt two years

ago. “I know it annoys the intelligentsia to see some little

gobshite stand up to the great author, but I’m only concerned about

the common people and they’re on my side.”

Being only 40 himself, Hannan, japanese incense
, cannot draw upon his own experiences

to contradict McCourt’s recollections of the 1940s, far less the

1930s. But several of his relatives are contemporaries, japanese incense
, of McCourt,

and it was they who first raised his suspicions about the book. His

late uncle Martin, who went to school with Frank McCourt, fed him a

lot of the background information for Ashes, which was, japanese incense
, billed as

“The real memoirs of two boys from the Limerick Lanes”. Paddy

Hannan, his 74-year-old father, was particularly affronted by

McCourt’s portrayal of his mother, Angela, whom he remembers as the

angel of the Lanes. “He makes her out to be good-for-nothing. Anyone

who cuts their own mammy down like that deserves nothing.”

McCourt is also, japanese incense
, accused of scandalising the family of Teresa Carmody

by telling the world that he had sex with her just days before she

died of tuberculosis. McCourt maintains that she never existed and

that, japanese incense
, the name was made up.

Such explanations have failed to silence his detractors, including

those on the local newspaper The Limerick Leader. At one point it

published a half-page of photographs showing McCourt as a member of

St Joseph’s Boy Scouts. Pointing out that, japanese incense
, this particular scout

troop was regarded as the Elite of Limerick, the headline asked: “Is

this the picture of misery?”

McCourt, a handsome,, japanese incense
, snow-haired figure who penned his memoirs after

teaching for many years in New York high schools, tried to laugh off

such assaults. “Begrudgers,” he told the Boston Globe. “Where would

Ireland be without them?” He dismissed the complaints as

“peripheral”, describing Angela’s Ashes as “a memoir, not an exact

history”. He has owned up to one falsehood. In the book, schoolmate

Willie Harold is, japanese incense
, depicted walking to his first confession

“whispering about his big sin, that he looked at his sister’s naked

body”, japanese incense
, . Willie Harold never had a sister,, japanese incense
, a point he brought to

McCourt’s attention when, in the advanced stages of cancer, he

queued at a book-signing to set the record straight. McCourt claims

to have settled the matter, japanese incense
, amicably by granting his old chum a free

copy, japanese incense
, . It is impossible to verify this, as Harold has since died.

He’ll have to do a lot more than sign a free copy to silence Gerry

Hannan, who is plainly basking in the limelight of his vendetta. In

the back office of his bookstore he has a fat file containing all

the stories his claims have generated on both sides of the Atlantic.

He also got to vent his spleen on The South Bank Show when it

profiled Frank McCourt recently. Is he obsessive? Gerry Hannan

doesn’t think so. “I’ve got a lot of other things in my life,, japanese incense
, but I

do have a tremendous sense of loyalty to my listeners, who inundated

me for weeks and weeks with their heartfelt complaints about Frank

McCourt.”

Whatever, the feud will enter a new chapter as Alan Parker’s film of

Angela’s Ashes hits the screens. The producers of The Late Late Show

would doubtless be keen to stage a second bout. Whether McCourt will

allow himself to be ambushed again, japanese incense
, is highly doubtful. Hannan, who

was carefully primed by an RTE researcher for his first ever

appearance on prime time television, is certainly up for a rematch.

“I don’t just want to eyeball him in a television, japanese incense
,, japanese incense
, studio,” Hannan

told The Independent. “I want Frank McCourt to take me to court,

where the truth about his book will come out for the whole world to

see.”

Limerick,, japanese incense
, Rising From ‘Ashes’

A bittersweet memoir is luring people to this once-grim Irish City.

They’re in for a surprise.

By K.C. Summers/The Washington, japanese incense
, Post

Limerick’s Windmill Street, japanese incense
, is a postman’s nightmare. Its small,

two-story stucco row houses are numbered 25, 2, 41, 1, 42 . . .

there are three No. 1’s alone. But the house I’m looking for doesn’t

seem to have a number at all. Painted, japanese incense
, pale yellow with a green door,

its only distinctive feature is a stuffed Garfield the Cat stuck in

the upstairs window.

It’s an ordinary house in an ordinary city, so unexceptional that no

one would give it a second glance. Yet millions of people know it

intimately, because it’s one of the places Frank McCourt, author of

the best-selling memoir “Angela’s Ashes,” lived when he was growing

up poor and desperate in the slums of Limerick, Ireland,, japanese incense
, during the

1930s and ’40s, japanese incense
, . This is what it was like on the McCourts’ first

night in this house:

Dad and Mam lay at the head of the bed, Malachy and I at the bottom,

the twins wherever they could find comfort . . , japanese incense
, . Then Eugene sat up,

screaming, tearing at himself . . . when Dad leaped from the bed and

turned on the gaslight we saw the fleas, leaping, jumping, fastened

to our flesh. We slapped at them and slapped but they hopped from

body to body, hopping, biting. We tore at the bites till they bled.

We jumped from the bed, the twins crying, Mam moaning, Oh, Jesus,

will we have no rest!

It’s hard, japanese incense
, to reconcile the misery depicted in McCourt’s book with

that Garfield up in the window. But in a way, the stuffed cat says

it all. The terrible days of life in Limerick that McCourt wrote

about so eloquently is gone, and good riddance to them. Yet it’s a

measure of how moving his book is — and how much things have

changed in Ireland — that people are coming back to Limerick to see

how it was.

Frank McCourt, with his evocative, funny-sad memoir, has done the

unimaginable: He’s turned Limerick into a hot tourist destination.

This is a bit like drawing tourists to the United States to spend a

week, japanese incense
, in Toledo. Unfairly or not, Ireland’s fourth-largest,, japanese incense
, japanese incense
, city has

long had a reputation as a gritty, somewhat grim place, with few

attractions for visitors beyond its proximity to Shannon

International Airport. People tended to use it as a starting and

ending point when they visited Ireland, but few spent any time there.

It’s easy to see why. This isn’t the Ireland of leprechauns and

blarney stones; it’s a working city — computers, manufacturing –

without the slick trappings of tourism. Which is precisely why it’s

worth visiting. It hasn’t been Disneyfied. There is no Frank

McCourt T-shirt shops. The little yellow house on Windmill Street

hasn’t been turned into an Angela’s Ashes B&B; Yet.

“Angela’s Ashes” long ago went from being merely popular to

something of a cult object. It’s been widely praised for its

luminous prose, selling close to 2 million copies in little over a

year, and topping the bestseller, japanese incense
, lists since its publication, japanese incense
, . It’s

won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award,

and was voted Book of the Year for 1997 by the American Booksellers

Association.

The book is not for the squeamish. In fact, as McCourt says, it’s a

wonder that he survived to tell the tale. He was born in New York of

immigrant parents who moved the family back to Ireland when he was

4. Big mistake. They had already lost one child,, japanese incense
, japanese incense
, in New York, and two

more would die in Limerick. The father drank away his wages (when he

worked, japanese incense
, at all), the mother begged for charity and the children

mostly fended for themselves as the family moved from one squalid,

flea-ridden, japanese incense
, flat to another. A number of villains emerge: members of

the Catholic clergy, sadistic schoolmasters, callous social workers

and — not the least — “the gray city of, japanese incense
, Limerick and the river

that kills.”

It sounds horrible, depressing, nothing you’d willingly want to read

about — much less visit. But people are. “Throngs of them,” sighs

the bartender at the venerable W.J. South pub, newly famous as the

favorite watering hole of Frank McCourt’s father. “Busloads of them.”

“Oh yes indeed, it’s, japanese incense
, been quite popular,” says Breda Bourke,

supervisor of the Limerick tourist information office. “It started

off with Americans and now we’re getting a lot of inquiries from the

Germans, japanese incense
, and the Japanese. It’s very, very popular. It’s bringing

people to the city that we might, japanese incense
, not otherwise have.”

Liam O’Hanlon, chairman of the Limerick Tourist, japanese incense
, Trade Association,

has led walking tours of the city for years. Until recently, his

routine was unvarying: King John’s Castle, St. Mary’s Cathedral and

other highlights of Limerick’s medieval district. “It was the

historical things that people were interested in,” he says, japanese incense
, . “Now,

suddenly they’re walking in with `Angela’s Ashes,’ wanting to know

where the lanes are. They expect to see what Frank McCourt has

written about — but what he’s written about no longer exists.”

Well, not exactly. In addition to South’s pub, quite a few sites

from the book remain, including the Leamy National School, the

People’s Park, a slew of exquisite old churches where the young

Frank frequently sought refuge, and the St. Vincent de Paul Society

town house where his mother, Angela, queued up for charity. But as

O’Hanlon emphasizes to visitors, the, japanese incense
,, japanese incense
, slums McCourt described so

unflinchingly are gone, cleared away during the 1950s and ’60s.

The Irish economy is booming, thanks in part to the recent influx of

European Union funds, and Limerick is no exception. An urban renewal

project begun in the 1980s has had dramatic results. Construction is

everywhere — hotels, apartment blocks, pubs, restaurants. Blocks of

once-elegant, 19th-century Georgian row houses are being lovingly

restored. There’s an undeniable air of prosperity. On a bright fall

weekend, the downtown streets are jammed, the shops and restaurants

packed.

Down by Arthur’s, japanese incense
, Quay on the banks of the Shannon, there are posh

stores, antiques shops and a gleaming new tourist information

center. The prestigious Hunt Museum, with an impressive collection

of antiquities, recently moved here from its, japanese incense
, former digs on the

outskirts of the city. Lovely old churches abound, and they’re not

even locked, should you be seized by a sudden desire to confess your

sins.

When the walls of Limerick were torn down and the city was rebuilt

in the mid-18th century, this area became the city’s focal point. By

the time Frank McCourt was knocking around town, the elegant

Victorian buildings had become tenements and Arthur’s Quay was known

as a desperate place.

Everyone in Limerick knows these houses are old and might fall down

at any minute. Mam often says, I don’t want any of ye going down to

Arthur’s Quay and if I find ye, japanese incense
, there I’ll break yeer faces. The

people down there are wild and ye could get robbed and killed.

Now the pendulum has swung again, and the upscale shopping mall

there is full of Nike-clad teenagers and their equally well-dressed

elders. You can buy a boombox, or a bottle of fine wine, or a

hand-knit sweater to die for. In Quinnsworth’s, a supermarket as

bright and garish as any Giant or Safeway, I wandered down aisles

stocked with 12 different kinds of marmalade and more brands of

chocolate than I even knew existed. There I bought a bag of Odlums

flour, which a local had recommended, japanese incense
, to me as “quite brilliant”

(“brilliant”, japanese, japanese incense
, incense
, being the Irish word for anything great). I was hoping

to re-create the taste, japanese incense
, of Irish bread when I returned home.

Ah. Irish bread. I’d become be sotted with it during my stay. Truth

to tell, I’d been pleasantly surprised by Irish food in general. Of

course, a “full Irish breakfast” can be a somewhat alarming sight

first, japanese incense
, thing in the morning, with lots of fried everything. But many

places serve fresh ingredients now, and the seafood, especially, is

delicious. At dinner that night, I headed back to Arthur’s Quay and

feasted, japanese incense
, on fillet of sea bream with crispy leeks and a smoked salmon

butter sauce at a cool,, japanese incense
, japanese incense
, neighborhood, japanese incense
, restaurant called, japanese incense
, the Green

Onion. Not all my meals in Limerick were as memorable as that one,

but it’s safe to say that Irish dining has successfully made it into

the ’90s.

It wasn’t just the food and the shops that drew me back to the

narrow streets of Arthur’s Quay again and again. It was the history.

Limerick is oozing with it. You can be walking down the street,

thinking about that hand-knit sweater you just tried on, then look

up to find yourself passing a 13th-century castle. England’s King

John ordered this fortress built in 1212 to, japanese incense
, guard the entrance to

the city. Today, you can climb the tower’s steep stone staircase,

peer through the narrow slitted windows and imagine yourself

shooting arrows, japanese incense
, at the passersby below. (Hard to get a good angle!)

When you finally reach the top, you can stride across the

battlements for, japanese incense
, commanding views of the city, and scan the

approaching traffic on the Thomond Bridge. Except instead of varlets

on horseback, there are cars whizzing by, and people on bicycles.

From the castle, it’s a short walk to St. Mary’s Cathedral,

Limerick’s oldest surviving building, japanese incense
, . Built in 1172, it’s famous for

its 15th-century choir stalls, made of dark oak with fanciful

carvings. Outside, there are towering old trees, a wonderful,

atmospheric cemetery with crumbling Irish crosses, and a, japanese incense
, bench where

you can ponder your puny existence.

As a backdrop to all this, the River Shannon is a constant — and

increasingly lovely — presence. For years the city turned its back

on the river, and has only recently rediscovered it. Now there are

waterfront parks and benches and monuments, and rowing sculls and

boathouses. It’s a delightful scene on a quiet Sunday morning, with

people, japanese incense
, riding by on bicycles, and strolling couples admiring the

swans — yes, swans — gliding on the river.

Above all, there are kids. Most adults of childbearing age seem to

have at least two or three children attached to them. The streets of

Limerick are clogged with rosy babies in strollers, pudgy toddlers,

freckle-faced grade-school kids in parochial school uniforms,

exuberant packs of teenagers.

It’s a far cry from the vision of the city summoned by Frank

McCourt. And still . . . Remnants of his Limerick remain, in mute

testimony to harder times, japanese incense
, .

Tour guide O’Hanlon, japanese incense
, is used to getting a bit of flak from the

residents of Limerick. The first time he visited the former McCourt

house on Windmill Street, he says, a woman came out, japanese incense
, of her house

with her hands on her hips. “She saw that I had the book and she

asked if I’d read it. I said, japanese incense
, I had. `Isn’t it filth?’ she asked.” He

shrugs. You run into that kind of attitude a lot, japanese incense
, on the “Angela’s

Ashes” circuit.

Just a few blocks away on Hartstonge Street, past rows of Georgian

town, japanese incense
, houses and offices and something called the Victoria Club

Leisure Complex, is a somewhat forbidding, Gothic-looking red-brick

building with a crenellated roof. This was Leamy’s National School,

home to cruel and/or demented schoolmasters and legions, japanese incense
, of barefoot,

underfed students.

There are seven masters in Leamy’s National School, and they all

have leather straps, canes, blackthorn sticks. They hit you with the

sticks on the shoulders, the back, the legs, and, especially, the

hands. If they hit you on the hands it’s called a slap. They hit you

if you’re, japanese incense
, late, if you have a leaky nib on your pen, if you laugh,

if you talk, and if you don’t know things.

They hit you if you don’t know why God made the world, if you don’t

know the patron saint of Limerick, if you can’t recite the Apostles’

Creed,, japanese incense
, if you can’t add 19 to 47, if you can’t subtract 19 from 47,

if you don’t know the chief towns and products of the 32 counties of

Ireland,, japanese incense
, if you can’t find Bulgaria on the wall map . . .

The, japanese incense
, school houses offices now — a tailor shop, a brass plaque

company, japanese incense
, . Inside, it’s carpeted and renovated, with not a trace of a

classroom remaining. A man with a tape measure around his neck comes

out, japanese incense
, of the tailor’s, sees us and, japanese incense
, rolls his eyes. Have there been a

lot of “Angela’s Ashes” pilgrims poking around? “There have.” Has he

read, japanese incense
, the book? “I haven’t.” (Nobody in Ireland says “yes” or “no.”)

“A lot of people in Limerick are a bit sour over it,” he explains,

adding, “The book’s got it all wrong. ‘Twasn’t like that. Not atall.”

Right next door is another “Ashes” landmark: the four-story,

red-brick town house of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, where

Frank’s mother, Angela,, japanese incense
, queued up for charity.

Mam goes to the St. Vincent de Paul Society to see if there’s any

chance of getting furniture. The man says he’ll give us a docket for

a table, two chairs, and two beds . . . She wipes her eyes on her

sleeves and asks the man if the beds we’re getting are secondhand.

He says, japanese incense
, of course they are, and she says she’s very worried about

sleeping in beds someone might have died in, especially if they had

the consumption. The man says, I’m very sorry, but beggars can’t be

choosers.

The, japanese incense
, society is still a source of clothing and furniture for

Limerick’s poor, but “it’s much, japanese incense
, more user-friendly today,” says

O’Hanlon, japanese incense
, . “You don’t find people queuing up outside anymore.”

Onward, to the People’s Park, where Frank took his small brothers to

distract them from their hunger. Even on a rainy day it’s inviting,

with well-tended rose gardens, a fanciful Victorian drinking

fountain and the greenest grass I’ve ever seen. I end up coming, japanese incense
, back

here several times during my stay — it’s such an appealing, japanese incense
, place,

full of all manner of kids, guys kicking soccer balls, dog-walkers,

mums with prams, people on benches. On the facing Pery Square, a row

of striking Georgian row houses with elaborate fanlights is being

renovated.

Down Barrington Street, past doctors’ and solicitors’ offices with

lovely painted doors — Limerick has great doors — is Barrack Hill,

site of another McCourt residence.

We move to Roden Lane on top of a place called Barrack Hill. There

are six houses on one side of the lane, one on the opposite side.

The houses are called two up, two down, two rooms on the top, two, japanese incense
, on

the, japanese incense
, bottom. Our house is at the end of the lane, the last of the

six. Next to our door is a small shed, a lavatory, and next to that

a, japanese incense
, stable.

Roden Lane, where the McCourts shared that single lavatory with the

rest of the block, is gone now, but St. Joseph’s Church, where the

young Frank, japanese incense
, received his First Communion and Confirmation, is a

looming presence. That’s where Frank applied to be an altar boy, and

there, visible through the white wrought-iron fence, is the door

that was slammed in his face.

Perhaps, japanese incense
, Frank found more comfort in the massive,, japanese incense
, century-old

Redemptorist Church on South Circular Road, a dark and beautiful

refuge, with flickering votive candles,, japanese incense
, an intricate mosaic-tiled

floor and eye-popping, elaborately, japanese incense
, gilded alcoves. Farther north, on

Henry Street, is the huge Franciscan Church where Frank prayed to

his patron saint, Francis of Assisi. With its huge pillared front it

looks more like the Supreme Court, japanese incense
, than a place of worship, but

inside it has the same welcoming feeling and lovely smell of incense

and candle wax. Old women click their rosary beads as shoppers pop

in, genuflect and say a quick prayer. Anyone raised on modern

ecclesiastical architecture and streamlined statuary will never want

to leave.

You can’t escape “Angela’s Ashes” in Limerick. Everyone has an

opinion about the book, and is only too eager to share it. Store

clerks, waitresses, taxi drivers, people in pubs — if they aren’t

related to someone in the book, they went to school with them or, at

the very least, know one of the, japanese incense
, characters.

Sabine Sheehan,, japanese incense
, a desk clerk at Jurys Inn, japanese incense
, on Lower Mallow Street, in

the dockside area where the young Frank once scrounged for bits of

coal, watches all the “Ashes” hubbub with amusement. She’s a

descendant of Ab Sheehan, Angela’s brother, and her stepmother is

related to one of, japanese incense
, the masters at Leamy School. “The book’s prompted

a lot of peoples’ memories,” Sheehan says. “People say he has no

right to dredge all this up, but I wouldn’t agree. That’s the way

’twas, and that’s the way ’twas.”

What people think of the book depends on their age, says Liam

O’Hanlon. “Younger people have no personal, japanese incense
, knowledge, and accept the

book as one person’s recollections, japanese incense
, of his childhood as he remembers

it. What he’s writing about is just another part of Limerick

history. But there are a lot of people in Limerick in their late

sixties who see the book as a challenge to a way of life that they

remember with rose-tinted glasses. He’s confronting them with what

they don’t want to hear.”

Indeed,, japanese incense
, while opinion about, japanese incense
, the book is divided, the naysayers may

have the edge in Limerick. When McCourt comes back to the city for

book tours, irate residents are there to meet him, challenging his

memory and questioning his anecdotes. “Every time he comes to

Limerick and puts his head above the parapet, there’s someone firing

at him,” says O’Hanlon.

“There’s a lot of begrudgery about it in the home town,” agrees

Eddie Daly, a clerk in O’Mahony’s bookstore on O’Connell Street,

where a table in front is piled high with something called “Ashes,”

a copycat memoir by Gerard Hannan. “That book was written as a

retort to `Angela’s Ashes,’ ” Daly says, “but it doesn’t have the

same feeling. Hannan has an ax to grind.”

While “Angela’s Ashes” continues to sell well, Daly says, “it’s

probably selling better on a nationwide basis. A lot of people in

Limerick are still a bit tender. But that’s the Irish — we’re a

nation of begrudgers. You see one of your own doing well, you want

to give him some slag.”

But even if you can’t look at “Angela’s Ashes” objectively, Daly

adds, “you still have to admire it as a fine piece of work. Times

were, japanese incense
, hard, but such was the situation for the, japanese incense
, vast majority, japanese incense
, of

people in Limerick, japanese incense
, at the time. I’m a native myself, and I really

enjoyed it. The humor is amazing. He’s a great storyteller.”

If the bone-crushing poverty of Frank McCourt’s Limerick is gone,

certain things in Ireland are eternal, japanese incense
, . On a rainy fall afternoon,

waves of mist roll in from the River Shannon, down the Dock Road and

through the streets and lanes. It’s a perfect day to wander into

South’s pub and curl up with a pint.

South’s seems ageless with its ancient mahogany wood, marble bar,

etched-glass partitions and cozy alcoves called “snugs,” but “Och,

’tis changed,” says a guy nursing a Guinness. In McCourt’s day, he

says, it was a third of the size. ” ‘Tis an old establishment. There

were, japanese incense
, terrible characters from the docks, before. It’s all different

now.”

But it doesn’t take long to find someone who grew up with Frank McCourt.

“The lanes were full of rats,” Jerry, a South’s regular, is saying.

“Full of rats they were. We’d wait for the full moon to come out.

We’d put our boots on and tuck our pants legs in our boots, and a

gang, japanese incense
, of us would go out. I’d kill about 80 on a good night — hit

‘em with a stick. That was our entertainment.”

Has he read “Angela’s Ashes”? Big grin. “I’m waiting, japanese incense
, for someone to

give it to me.”

George, over on the next stool, went to school with Frank’s brother

Malachy — they had the same master, “Hoppy” O’Halloran. “You’d be

frightened for your life,” he said. “He’d run after you with a big

stick. He’d bring you up and give you six slaps. Really hard, now.

He’d leave Malachy in charge when he went away. Now Malachy, he was

a very clever fellow . . .”

Times were tough, they say, but happy. “You could leave your door

open,” Jerry says. “There were very good people in the lanes — very

neighborly. Everyone looked after one another. They were grand

people. You could always get food from someone. You could get a bun

and a bit of tripe . . .”

“I didn’t like what Frank said about where we were living,” George

says. “It’s not true. We weren’t that badly off. I wish him luck,

but I don’t agree with the stuff he put in that book. But he’s got

his money, japanese incense
, now.”

“Frank’s a decent enough fellow,” Jerry says. “I don’t begrudge him

his success. He survived, and that’s it in a nutshell, isn’t it?”

LIMERICK BURNS OVER ‘ANGELA’

By Mike Meyer /Chicago Tribune

, japanese, japanese incense
, incense
,

Michael O’Donnell is not your average tour guide.

Gerard Hannan is not your average bookshop

owner. Frank McCourt is not your average memoir writer. Yet the

three men’s fates have crossed in Limerick, an average Irish town.

And none of them, city included,, japanese incense
, were prepared for the attention

that “Angela’s Ashes” would bring them from outside the community,

and the controversy it would create from within.

I spent the first weeks of January touring the great writers’

environments of Ireland — Joyce and Shaw’s Dublin; Heaney’s Ulster

coast; Yeats’ Sligo. Remarkable about each of these areas was the

preservation of ambience; you could feel what the land coaxed out of

these men and onto the page. Yet Ireland treasures and promotes its

writers beyond the postcard stand, as well, and you’ll find ample

sections of Irish Literature, Irish History and Irish Politics, japanese incense
,

fronting bookseller’s shelves, including the works of Frank McCourt.

As I traveled, McCourt’s name increasingly cropped up in the Irish

Times and Independent national newspapers more than any other writer

did. More than Bono even, who weighed in frequently with editorials

about forgiving Third World debt or U2 receiving the freedom of the

city award in Dublin in March. For the top half of January, McCourt

vied only with Gerry Adams for most-mentioned celebrity, due to the

premiering of the film version of “Angela’s Ashes.” On the film’s

opening day, it was the Independent’s front page story, right

underneath a headline declaring “Pope planning to step down next

year.”

Another writer’s stomping grounds had turned tourist attraction, I

figured,, japanese incense
, and so I headed to Limerick for the film’s opening and to

walk the streets that had etched themselves for half a century in

McCourt’s mind.

But as I made my way south to Limerick, another set of stories about

“Angela’s Ashes” began to appear in the UK and Irish press. They

told of a Limerick writer/bookshop owner/popular radio host who

publicly challenged the accuracy of McCourt’s memoir and, thus, its

merits for receiving the Pulitzer for non-fiction. The stories began

small, but as the film’s premier drew nearer, they ballooned to the

point where the man became a household name and saw himself being

discussed at the premiere press co

Buku-buku musisi membanjiri rak-rak buku biografi di toko buku. Ruang Baca, suplemen khusus dunia perbukuan Koran Tempo, membedah buku-buku tersebut.

(klik pada gambar untuk mengunduh 20 halaman file pdf Ruang Baca edisi Oktober 2009)

Cerita Sampul edisi ini mengulas buku musisi dalam dan luar negeri. Beberapa buku yang dibahas antara lain milik Fariz RM, Krisdayanti, ST12, Kurt Cobain, dan Jewel.

Menu artikel dan resensi buku Ruang Baca edisi Oktober 2009:

Artikel:
1. Profil Horst H. Geerken. pengarang asal Jerman juga mantan direktur perusahaan telekomunikasi yang menulis pengalamannya di Indonesia sejak zaman Soekarno.

2. Kongres Pemuda 2.0. . Para pemenang lomba esai tempo Institute.

3. Karya Posthumous dan Penulis Bayangan

4. Kolom Membaca Memoar oleh Ihsan Ali-Fauzi.

Resensi buku:
1. Sejarah Kecil Petite Histoire Indonesia karya Rosihan Anwar terbitan Penerbit Buku Kompas, Juli 2009 diresensi oleh Pemimpin Redaksi Balairung Universitas Gadjah Mada Yogyakarta, M. Lubabun Ni’am Asshibbamal S.

2. Perasaan-perasaan Yang Menyusun Sendiri Petualangannya karya Gunawan Maryanto, terbitan Omah Sore Publisher diresensi oleh Alia Swastika

3. Angela’s Ashes karya Frank McCourt terbitan Ramala Books diresensi oleh Dian R. Basuki.

4. Elle Eleanor karya Zeventina Octaviani B. & Ferry H. Zanzad, terbitan Penerbit Kakilangit Kencana, diresensi oleh Hernadi Tanzil.

5. Yin Galema: Kisah Cinta dan Pengembaraan Putri Tiongkok di Daratan Belitong pada Abad ke-17 karya Ian Sancin terbitan
Hikmah (PT Mizan Publika), diresensi oleh Denny Ardiansyah, pengelola Rumah Baca Tanpa Titik di Jember, Jawa Timur.

6. Istana Khayalan (The Palace of Illusions) karya Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni terbitan Gramedia Pustaka Utama diresensi oleh Anindita S. Thayf.