Irish America

Irish America

In This Issue 1999

The Greatest Irish Americans of the Century: Sports

By Irish America Staff

November 1999

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Maureen Connolly Little Mo She was the first woman and the youngest tennis player ever to win the Grand Slam -- the four-in-a-row Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open -- and one of only five players to do so. Her name was Maureen Connolly, but to adoring fans she was "Little Mo." Born in San Diego on September 14, 1934, Connolly was just 18 … [Read more...] about The Greatest Irish Americans of the Century: Sports

The Greatest Irish Americans of the Century: Stage and Screen

By Irish America Staff

November 1999

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James Cagney Screen Giant "If you listen to the clowns around you're just dead. Go do what you have to do."  Born July 17, 1899 on New York City's Lower East Side, James Francis Cagney was the second of seven children, two of whom died in infancy. His father was a saloonkeeper in the tough neighborhood where many of Cagney's contemporaries ended up in prison. In an … [Read more...] about The Greatest Irish Americans of the Century: Stage and Screen

John Jr., Remembered

By Patricia Harty, Editor-in-Chief
November 1999

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I can't say I knew him well. Who can except for his immediate family and close friends? Still, we all felt as if we knew John Kennedy, Jr. He touched our hearts. He carded the flame of Camelot, conscious (modestly) of what he embodied for many Americans, particularly Irish Americans. He might have chosen a different role had it been left up to him. He wanted to be an actor and … [Read more...] about John Jr., Remembered

The Paddy Clancy Call

By Frank McCourt

November 1999

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We're heading towards the end of 1999 and there are some, including myself, who may not see another year with a 9 in it. And isn't that the gloomiest opening sentence you ever read in your life? Still, it had to be written because they're going, my generation, the silent generation, slipping gently, one by one, into that good night, going with grace -- unlike the bleating … [Read more...] about The Paddy Clancy Call

John Steinbeck: Voice of the Dispossessed

By Jim Dwyer

November 1999

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All the great novels and stories of John Steinbeck slice into the American experience, clear to the bone. They are set in California, or along Route 66, where the Joads trekked across the southwest from the Dust Bowls. And Steinbeck himself, born with the century, was raised in Salinas, California, when it was still a small town on the last frontier of America. Yet the voice … [Read more...] about John Steinbeck: Voice of the Dispossessed