I’m flying from New York to San Francisco in a window seat looking out over the great expanse that is America. It’s my favorite route to fly. As always I’m struck by the majesty of the countryside – the mountains and lakes and rivers and the tiny dots of houses that hunker down into the landscape like covered wagons. Invariably, the words to “God Bless America” … [Read more...] about The First Word: A Tide of Hope
Patricia Harty
A Talk with Fionnula
Patricia Harty talks to the enormously talented Fionnula Flanagan. It’s 8 a.m. and Fionnula Flanagan arrives for breakfast looking fresh as a daisy in a crisp white shirt. Her thick white hair swept back, not a lick of make-up. She looks beautiful; her once flame-red hair is now a luscious pearl. Antique earrings she picked up for 10 cents at a yard sale adorn her ears. Molly … [Read more...] about A Talk with Fionnula
The First Word: Sharing the American Dream
This issue is a feast of Irish-Americana. There’s something to suit every taste and even the pickiest reader. Some history, some humor, some of who we are today. There’s the inspirational songbird Kelli O’Hara, whose Irish ancestors settled in Oklahoma during the Land Rushes, and Bill Maher who was born in New York to an Irish father and a Jewish mother. There’s even a salute … [Read more...] about The First Word: Sharing the American Dream
The First Word: Global Irish
As more and more talk turns to globalization, the Irish are in a unique position – in terms of the global context, we are already there. Whether it is running the world’s top rated hotel in Dubai, in the operating room of Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York, or running a telecom business in the Carribean – no matter where you turn you will find the Irish. We have spread … [Read more...] about The First Word: Global Irish
Robert Downey Jr. & Sr. Moments
Iron Man started the summer block busting season with a $100.7 million opening at the box office, and marked a tremendous comeback for 43-year-old actor Robert Downey Jr., who in recent years has waged a public battle against drug addiction, which included a stint in jail. Jr., who plays a billionaire industrialist who invents a hi-tech suit of armor that transforms him into a … [Read more...] about Robert Downey Jr. & Sr. Moments