Chuck Feeney has just put into practice something he had been considering for many years. He has decided that all the vast wealth he accumulated in his lifetime should be given away while he is still alive. The graying, well preserved 72-year-old New Jersey native persuaded the board of Atlantic Philanthropies, which he created two decades ago, to convert its $4 billion in … [Read more...] about One Life to Give
Interview
The Chief of Irish Music
Paddy Moloney, founder of The Chieftains, who has done more than anyone else to launch Irish music onto the world stage, talks to Lauren Byrne. In the expensive gloom of Boston's Copley Plaza Hotel, Paddy Moloney orders a pot of Earl Grey tea and shifts out of the draft from an over efficient air-conditioner. At 65, his hair is dappled gray, but Moloney's bantam figure is as … [Read more...] about The Chief of Irish Music
Gregory Peck: A Class Act
When Gregory Peck passed away on June 12, the world mourned one of the last icons of Hollywood's glory years. In all the tributes that were paid to him, few mentioned Peck's Irish roots, of which he was most proud. In June 1997, Peck, who rarely gave interviews in his last years, sat down with Irish America Editor Patricia Harty. An edited version of that interview … [Read more...] about Gregory Peck: A Class Act
Chris Matthews Interrupted
Niall O'Dowd interviews Chris Matthews of CNBC's Hardball, one of prime time's most popular programs. ℘℘℘ If Chris Matthews were a cat, curiosity would have killed him long ago. In our 90-minute interview in a Washington restaurant he asked as many questions as he fielded and he ranged over practically every major world problem, offering opinions, facts and speculations on … [Read more...] about Chris Matthews Interrupted
John B. Keane Remembered
On May 30, 2002, John B. Keane, author, raconteur, and much-loved Kerryman, passed away. Keane, at 73, had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1994. The author of 18 plays and 32 works of prose and poetry, including Big Maggie, which played on Broadway in 1982, and The Field, which was made into an award-winning movie starring Richard Harris Keane captured the soul of rural … [Read more...] about John B. Keane Remembered