The NY Times and Daily News speak to former students of NYC public school teacher turned bestselling memoirist Frank McCourt, who passed away on Sunday. One woman told the Times, "We all thought, ‘He’s such a genius, what’s he doing just teaching us?’ Everybody thought he was destined for bigger and better things. And when he became a global phenomenon, we felt it was justice." Another revealed to the News, "I was not a big reader back then, until he taught us 'Moby Dick.' I mean, the whale was in our classroom. I read everything ['Moby Dick' author Herman] Melville wrote after that. All of a sudden, I spent all my time in the library because of Frank McCourt." more ›

Frank McCourt, the NYC public school teacher turned bestselling author of Angela's Ashes, a memoir about his harsh childhood, died at age 78 today in Manhattan. He had been ill with meningitis and his cause of death was metastatic melanoma. more ›