Pity poor Mary Mallon. Born in Cookstown, County Tyrone in 1870, she came to New York looking for a new life in 1883, but the life she found, from 1909 until her death in 1938, was confinement on North Brother Island, a spit of land between the Bronx and Riker's Island. What was her crime? Mary was the first recognized healthy carrier of the bacteria that causes typhoid fever. … [Read more...] about Remembering Typhoid Mary
Archive
The Unfortunate Legacy of Mary Mallon
Death and disease. Mystery and suspense. A lover's betrayal with controversial human rights issues in the mix. Nova's new documentary The Most Dangerous Woman in America has it all. The superbly directed film explores the difficult, painful journey from teenage Irish immigrant to respectable private cook to public enemy number one of Mary Mallon, a.k.a. Typhoid Mary. Through … [Read more...] about The Unfortunate Legacy of Mary Mallon
Typhoid Mary Under
the Microscope
NOVA's new film about Mary Mallon, The Most Dangerous Woman in America, is based on the book Typhoid Mary: Captive to the Public's Health by Judith Walzer Leavitt, a professor of medical history and women's studies at the University of Wisconsin's Medical School. Her book has been heralded as "an indelible pleasure of early 20th-century New York, when modern knowledge and … [Read more...] about Typhoid Mary Under
the Microscope
Let’s Put on a Show!
Showbiz legend Mickey Rooney took to the Irish Repertory stage in New York in August regaling sold-out audiences with music, tales, and movie clips from his life. He performed with his wife, Jan, in Let's Put on a Show! At 83, Rooney is an 80-year veteran of show business, having started as a child performer. He was born Joe Yule, Jr., in Brooklyn in 1923, to vaudeville … [Read more...] about Let’s Put on a Show!
Donnelly Wins Carnegie Medal
Acclaimed author Jennifer Donnelly won the prestigious U.K. literary prize, the Carnegie Medal, for her first young adult novel A Northern Light. "I almost fell out of my chair when my publisher told me," she recently told Irish America. The delighted writer was the only American nominated for the medal and only the second American ever to win the prize. Donnelly, whose … [Read more...] about Donnelly Wins Carnegie Medal