Irish America

Irish America

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Conlon’s American Dream

By Abdon M. Pallasch
December / January 2008

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Just 17 years ago at age 20, Sean Conlon arrived in this country and stayed in the basement of a cousin who put him to work as a custodian of some rental properties the cousin owned. Now at 38, he is a rising star in the real estate/development business in Chicago.    "I love watching jets,” Sean Conlon says, following a white line down the blue Chicago sky on a cool October … [Read more...] about Conlon’s American Dream

An Interview with Charles Carey

By Abdon M. Pallasch
August / September 2007

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For a second- or third-generation leader of the Chicago Board of Trade, Charles Carey sure talks like a guy from the neighborhood. His voice is Ditka’s. So is his physique.  “I guess that comes from spending too much time in the pits,” Charles Carey laughed, motioning to the cavernous room down the hall from his office where traders still stand in “open outcry” pits shouting … [Read more...] about An Interview with Charles Carey

Miracle: An Interview with Jack O’Callahan

By Abdon M. Pallasch
August / September 2007

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The kid who helped propel the U.S. team to its miraculous 4-3 victory over the Soviets, giving the country a morale boost at the height of the Cold War in 1980, is now a star in the trading business. “The kid’s made the team. He’s busted his ass for me for seven months and now I gotta send him home? Is that the deal?” U.S. Olympic Hockey Coach Herb Brooks asks his superiors … [Read more...] about Miracle: An Interview with Jack O’Callahan

Dennis Purcell

By Declan O'Kelly, Contributor
August / September 2007

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Dennis Purcell never had a mind to go into the life science industry, but the businessman, who has a BS in accounting and economics from the University of Delaware and an MBA from Harvard, was inspired to head in that direction more by accident than design. ℘℘℘ "About 15 years ago, I was in general investment banking and I had a tumor in my arm. I started to see the health care … [Read more...] about Dennis Purcell

The Life of John Walsh

By Louise Carroll, Contributor
August / September 2003

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John Walsh, host of America's Most Wanted and The John Walsh Show, talks about his family, his television shows, his thoughts on Ireland, and his tireless crusading. ℘℘℘ Before he was a TV icon, crime-fighter, father of a murdered child, legislative harbinger and "the guy in the leather jacket," John Walsh was an Irish-American everyman. Born in 1945 to Mary Jean Callahan and … [Read more...] about The Life of John Walsh