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Francis "Frank" McCourt (19 August 1930 - 19 July 2009) was an Irish-American teacher and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, best known as the author of Angela`s Ashes. He was the brother of author and actor Malachy McCourt. Frank McCourt was born in Brooklyn, New York, the eldest of seven children of Malachy and Angela McCourt. Unable to find work in the depths of the Depression, the McCourts returned to their native Limerick, Ireland in 1934, where they sank deeper into poverty. McCourt`s father, an alcoholic who was often without work, drank up what little money he earned. When McCourt was eleven, his father left with other Irishmen to find work in the factories of wartime Liverpool, England. He sent little money to the family leaving Frank`s mother to raise four children. After quitting school at age thirteen, Frank alternated between odd jobs and petty crime in an effort to feed himself, his mother, and three surviving brothers, Malachy, Michael, and Alphonsus (Alphie). The other three of McCourt`s six siblings died of diseases aggravated by malnutrition and the squalor of their surroundings. Frank himself nearly died of typhoid fever when he was ten. In his book Angela`s Ashes, McCourt describes an entire block of houses sharing a single outhouse, flooded by constant rain, and infested with rats and vermin.

At age nineteen, he left Ireland returning to the United States where, after a stint working in New York City`s Biltmore Hotel, he was drafted and sent to Germany. Upon his discharge from the army, he returned to New York City where he held a series of jobs. Frustrated with his lot in life, he used the GI Bill to enroll in New York University, from which he ultimately graduated. After receiving a Masters degree from Brooklyn College in 1967, he taught English at McKee High School and Stuyvesant High School in New York City (where he joined the American Federation of Teachers). At first he had trouble teaching, because his students were unruly and disobedient. But eventually Frank McCourt became a very experienced teacher. He ended his teaching career after thirty years.

He received the Pulitzer Prize (1997) and National Book Critics Circle Award (1996) for his memoir Angela`s Ashes (1996), which details his childhood as a poor Irish Catholic in Limerick. He is also the author of `Tis (1999), which continues the narrative of his life, picking up from the end of the previous book and focusing on life as a new immigrant in America. Teacher Man (2005), detailed the challenges of being a young, uncertain teacher who must impart knowledge to his students. His works are often part of the syllabus in high schools. In 2002 he was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Western Ontario. Frank McCourt was a member of the National Arts Club and was a recipient of The International Center in New York`s Award of Excellence. In 2002, he was awarded the Action Against Hunger Humanitarian Award.

It was announced in May 2009 that he had been treated for melanoma and that he was in remission, undergoing chemotherapy at home. On July 19, 2009, he died of meningitis at a hospice in Manhattan.

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