Bill Maher gets real with Kelly Carlin-McCall about life, work and religion. Smart, funny, bold, proverbial line-crosser – all of these words could be used to describe Bill Maher. They also could have been used to describe my father, the late George Carlin. Earlier this year, I got the chance to meet Bill Maher. Unfortunately it was under circumstances I could have done … [Read more...] about The Real Bill Maher
Politics Archives
The Conventions
Ireland was in the background at this year’s Democratic and Republican National Conventions, but it was there. On the eve of the Democratic Convention in Denver, Senator Barack Obama appeared in Springfield, Illinois, to introduce his candidate for vice president, Senator Joe Biden of Delaware. Biden has long been an outspoken advocate for Irish-American issues and Obama has … [Read more...] about The Conventions
The Battle Over Ulysses
The court case that changed the way Americans read. During a first-season episode of the excellent AMC TV series Mad Men, set in the New York advertising world of the 1960s, several secretaries are seen gathered around the office water cooler, whispering. Finally, one secretly passes along a well-thumbed copy of the erotic literary classic Lady Chatterley’s Lover, which was … [Read more...] about The Battle Over Ulysses
A Letter to the Editor: Mission Possible
I felt compelled to write you and say thank you for unintentionally helping my family. Because you put a group of wonderful people in the same room (for the awards ceremony of your “Top 100 Best & Brightest”) our lives have forever been changed. Let me explain: My husband John is a 15-year Army veteran who was severely injured on January 5, 2006, while on patrol on Taji, … [Read more...] about A Letter to the Editor: Mission Possible
The First Family of Irish America
Back in July, Bronx Irish Catholic Edwin F. O’Brien, after a 40-year career as a priest, military chaplain and aide to two cardinals, was named the new Archbishop of Baltimore. The archdiocese O’Brien will lead numbers more than a half-million Catholics, with 200 priests, five Catholic hospitals, two seminaries and 151 parishes, including two cathedrals, The Baltimore Sun … [Read more...] about The First Family of Irish America