The Bells of St. Mary's: a tribute to a classic that humanizes CatholicismAnyone who has survived Catholic schooling -- in my case, eight years of torture by Dominican nuns, then four years of more refined sadism at the hands of Jesuit priests -- cannot help watching Leo McCarey's The Bells of St. Mary's with deeply mixed emotions. One of Hollywood's most popular religious … [Read more...] about My Guiltiest Pleasure
Bing Crosby
The Future of Irish America
Peter Quinn looks at the position of
Irish Americans as we embrace the new millennium.
Irish Americans as we embrace the new millennium.
“Whatever the future may hold, wherever it may take us, we can bring along only what we possess, and if we don’t possess our past, if instead of a true history and a significant literature, we bring along only trivia, empty myths and a handful of stories, or-worst of all -- the latest intellectually fashionable versions of ourselves, we will offer those to come after nothing of … [Read more...] about The Future of Irish AmericaPeter Quinn looks at the position of
Irish Americans as we embrace the new millennium.
Redeeming Bing Crosby,
the Voice of Christmas
December 22, 2017
Bing Crosby was once considered the greatest crooner of all and his recording of "White Christmas" remains the best-selling single of all time, with an estimated 100 million copies sold world-wide. And yet the distortion of Bing Crosby's accomplishments and reputation has been as remarkable as his career. Here, we debunk many of the myths that have circulated since the singer's … [Read more...] about Redeeming Bing Crosby,
the Voice of Christmas
Redeeming Bing
Once considered the greatest crooner of all, the distortion of Bing Crosby's accomplishments and reputation has been as remarkable as his career. Bob Lydon debunks many of the myths that have circulated since the singer's death in 1977. ℘℘℘ Bing Crosby died on a golf course near Madrid, Spain, on October 14, 1977. He was 74 and well past his career peak years which spanned … [Read more...] about Redeeming Bing
The Greatest Irish Americans of the Century: Song and Dance
The Dorsey BrothersSultans of SwingTo fans of jazz and swing, the Dorsey brothers need no introduction. As musicians, composers and dance band leaders, they are inextricably linked with the swing craze during the big-band era of the 1930s and 1940s. Their numerous hits include "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You," "I'll Never Smile Again," and "Boogie-Woogie." In all, they sold a … [Read more...] about The Greatest Irish Americans of the Century: Song and Dance