On Monday, October 26th, the New York Chapter of the Gallery Circle convened for a very special evening to commemorate Irish author Frank McCourt at the apartment of AIF Chairman Loretta Brennan Glucksman.
The event was held in conjunction with the launch of a book entitled The Republic of Conscience – Stories inspired by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Published by Amnesty International, this collection of pieces by forty-four notable Irish writers is dedicated to the memory of Frank McCourt, who wrote one of the stories included in the collection. Irish authors Kevin Barry, Colum McCann, Joseph O’Connor and Colm Tóibín all joined the event and read their respective pieces, culminating in a video clip of McCourt reading his piece at a previous event held at Trinity College, Dublin.
The readings were engaging, thought-provoking and enormously entertaining. The presence of the authors made the evening magical and brought the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to life for supporters of The American Ireland Fund and Amnesty International. Witnessing firsthand readings of four of the pieces while remembering the tremendous life and work of the great Frank McCourt, attendees were part of an inspiring evening that celebrated both a legend of a man and a new commitment to human rights in the modern world.
