"The guy who makes coffee for me I every morning in my local coffee shop in Brooklyn congratulated me when I won the Pulitzer," recounts John Patrick Shanley with a big grin. "Then, when I won the Tony, the guy says, `This cuppa coffee's on me.'" Shanley, the Irish-American playwright and screenwriter, lets out a hoot of laughter. "God knows what I have to do to get a free … [Read more...] about From Doubt to Defiance
Interview
A Winning Pedigree: Tom Brady
Tom Brady is more than an athlete, he is an American icon. Through the support of his loving family and his own will and determination, Brady won an unprecedented three Super Bowls before the age of 30. More importantly, he's done it with a touch of class. ℘℘℘ It is a nondescript fall morning in Foxboro, Massachusetts, aside from the wispy fog that has yet to be burned away. … [Read more...] about A Winning Pedigree: Tom Brady
Probing the Past
Peter Quinn wanted to do something simple. It was 1994 and Quinn had just published Banished Children of Eve, his epic novel of New York City and the Irish famine. Up until then, there had been a monumental gap in American literature. The Irish had been in New York City going back to the days when Peter Minuit, as legend has it, hoodwinked the local Algonquins and snatched up … [Read more...] about Probing the Past
Touch of the Poet
Many homes treasure family photos. The award-winning Irish actress Dearbhla Molloy recalls, "I remember, in my grandparents' house, a glass cabinet with a pair of handcuffs. "My grandfather Michael Ryan was a `freedom fighter' involved in the 1916 rebellion and the civil war. He went to prison several times during part of my mother's childhood." Referring to that unusual … [Read more...] about Touch of the Poet
The Manly Mr. Crowe
Russell Crowe is clad in a black jersey with a shamrock and bulldog embroidered on the left breast, and the name Jim Braddock, Crowe's character in Cinderella Man, emblazoned on the right ("Something I designed for the crew," he says briskly). His face is roughly shaven, and his short bicycle shorts show off the scope of his muscles. Crowe exudes a raw masculinity. His body, … [Read more...] about The Manly Mr. Crowe