On February 7, 1882, John L. Sullivan was on his way to becoming “America’s first sports hero.” All the 24-year-old son of Irish immigrants had to do was throw his hat into the ring. Literally. Nineteenth-century boxing tradition had it that when a challenger wanted to take on the champ, both would show up at a predetermined fight site and, in a highly elaborate ritual, the … [Read more...] about Strong Boy
Literature
What Are You Like? Thomas Cahill
Thomas Cahill is a bestselling author and scholar whose landmark book, How the Irish Saved Civilization, marked its 18th anniversary in 2013. The book, which spent two years on The New York Times bestseller list, tells the story of fifth-century Irish monks who copied, and thereby preserved, almost all of what has survived of Western classical poetry, history, oratory, … [Read more...] about What Are You Like? Thomas Cahill
Finding the Other: The Metamorphosis and Compassion
Molly McCloskey, the author of Circles Around the Sun, shares how one profound reading experience led her to better understand her older brother who suffers from schizophrenia. I can still recall, in the way one recalls the most powerful reading experiences of one’s life, lying on the bed in my studio apartment in Portland, Oregon, and reading “The Metamorphosis” for the first … [Read more...] about Finding the Other: The Metamorphosis and Compassion
From the Ground Up
Chicagoan Jeanne Nolan talks to Kara Rota about her new book and her commitment to growing organic food. "I am all about people growing their own food,” Jeanne Nolan says to me when we get on the phone to discuss her just-released book, From the Ground Up: A Food Grower’s Education in Life, Love and the Movement That’s Changing the Nation. When we met nine years ago, Jeanne … [Read more...] about From the Ground Up
Review of Books
Stand-out books by Irish-American authors that cover a range of health-related issues. A Drinking Life Pete Hamill's autobiographical A Drinking Life is an important portrayal of the real life of an addict. He is unapologetic in this memoir taking readers from his childhood on to his drinking years and to his ultimate decision to put drink down forever. A talented … [Read more...] about Review of Books