User talk:EamonRising

Peter Quinn (author) (b. 1947) is a novelist, essayist, historian, chronicler of Irish-America and winner of the American Book Award for his novel, Banished Children of Evehttp://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/webpages4/archives/quinn.html.

Personal Life: Raised in The Bronx, New York as a Roman Catholic, he is a third generation Irish New Yorker. His grandmother came to the United States during the height of the Irish Potato Famine in 1847. He is a graduate of Manhattan College and Fordham University. From 1979 to 1985, he was the speech writer for New York governors Hugh Carey and Mario Cuomo. In 1985 he became Editorial Director for Time, Inc http://www.nyu.edu/library/bobst/research/aia/collections/ihoral/quinnp/quinnp.php.

First Friday Club: While a speech writer, Quinn became friends with brothers Malachy and Frank McCourt, and along with Dennis Smith (the only published author at the time), formed the First Friday Club in New York City where the group drank in bars and talked about literature. The most famous of these bars was the Lion's Head, in Greenwich Village. http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/webpages4/archives/tuokennedy.html. In 1984, Quinn asked author William Kennedy if the First Friday Club might have him for lunch to celebrate the release of Kennedy's third book of the trilogy, The Albany Cycle. Quinn said of the meeting with their literary hero, "I think Bill was flabbergasted. He thought he was going to be questioned about symbolism and metaphors. When he gave us a ride back to the train station that afternoon he said he had laughed himself sick. We've stayed friends ever since.''

Banished Children of Eve: While writing speeches for two governors of New York and Time, Inc., Quinn began researching for Banished Children of Eve, an historical novel set amid the New York City draft riots during the Civil War. In 1994 it was published. The novel combines Quinn's lifelong interests in New York City, Irish history and immigration, and the Civil War. IN 1995, it was awarded the American Book Award. American_Book_Awards

Quinn has also appeared in many documentaries about the history of New York, the impact of the Irish Famine and the Irish-American experience. He is a contributor to Commonweal Magazine and has speaker on topics such as Tammany Hall and the legacy of author William Kennedy. In 2010, Banished Children of Eve was performed as a play at the Irish Repertory Theater, produced by Kelly Younger and directed by Ciaran O'Reilly.

Works: Banished Children of Eve (1994) The Hour of the Cat (2006) Looking for Jimmy (2008) The Man who Never Returned (2011)