Frank McCourt for greatest American

Many pundits in the blogosphere have been chiming in on who they think ought to be added to the list of the 100 greatest Americans (reproduced at Professor Bainbridge’s blog).

Professor Bainbridge has a list of additions heavy on lawyers and people whose last name is Marshall. Pete the Elder suggests Boss Tweed and Wyatt Earp. She who will be obeyed supports cooking instructor Julia Childs (but Lawgirl and David Schraub don’t agree) . The Unabrewer thinks James Madison should be on the list. Greg Hlatky has his own list of 100, which includes Irving Berlin, the musician best known for his Broadway showtunes. The Monk nominates William Seward, who probably deserves to be there a lot more than Condoleezza Rice. Kevin Drum suggests Andy Warhol, famous for designing the Campbell’s Soup label. Kevin of Lean Left likes Eugene V. Debs who was sentenced to prison for treason against the United States (but at least not for child molestation which is likely for Michael Jackson who did mysteriously make the list). Linkmeister likes Duke Ellington (though I would pick his contemporary Glenn Miller first).

So in light of what all these other bloggers have written, my nomination is for Frank McCourt, the author of Angela’s Ashes.

First of all, the list is short on authors, with only Samuel “Mark Twain” Clemens making the list (and most deservedly so). I can’t think of any contemporary writer more deserving of inclusion than Frank McCourt. In addition to being a huge bestseller with millions of copies sold, Angela’s Ashes also received critical acclaim and won a Pullitzer Prize. This is a pretty rare combination; usually critical acclaim and sales are inversely related.

The United States is a nation of immigrants, and Frank McCourt’s memoirs capture the spirit of the immigrant experience. He has a horrible childhood in Ireland, but then he finally saves up enough money to buy passage to America. Angela’s Ashes ends with Frank finally returning to America, the land of opportunity.

In addition to being short on writers, schoolteachers are completely absent from the list. Yet surely teaching is an important enough profession to merit one inclusion in a list of 100 great Americans? The very basis for our Democracy lies with an educated public.

Before becoming a famous author, Frank McCourt worked for thirty years as a humble public high school teacher in New York City. But he was more than just a mere high school teacher; most of his students remember him as the best teacher they ever had.

Frank McCourt truly deserves nomination to the list.

UPDATE

Lawgirl responds to what she says is a misconstruction of her Julia Child remark. I agree with her. Why is a cook promoted to the list of 100 while other accomplished American women, such as author Edith Wharton or artist Mary Cassatt, are ignored? In fact, I agree that Professor Bainbridge’s inclusion of only judges, politicians, and military people shows his lack of interest in other equally important aspects of American culture such as art, literature, and science. Who is Chester Nimitz and why is he a more important American than Ansel Adams, Albert Bierstadt, or John Singer Sargent?

Comments

[Linkmeister]

That's the only redeeming feature of these sorts of lists; they're so subjective I can use one of my favorite Pogo phrases: "To each his dagnab own."

[The Monk]

I find it funny that you trackbacked my discussion on this topic and nominated Frank McCourt for the Top 100 list. Why? I KNOW HIM. Nice confluence of coincidences.

McCourt worked with the PaMonk for 15 years (1972-87) when both were teachers at Stuyvesant High School in New York City. He wrote an inscription for The Monk's own copy of Angela's Ashes. And that is an outstanding memoir.

[Lawgirl]

Just to clarify - I don't object to putting Julia Child on the list - I was just pointing out that ONLY woman whom Professor Bainbridge said "definitely" belonged on the list was Julia Child. All of his other "definites" were men. I found it remarkable that he could not think of one other woman who he thought definitely belonged on the list.

[Michael H.]

Hi Half Sigma
I have "nominated" my own short list of great Americans. Of course, these lists are enormously subjective, (that's what makes them fun) but I think few would argue with the three on my list. Click on my name to read what I had to say.

[Victoria]

Thank you, linkmeister, for calling these lists what they are, totally subjective. Michael Jackson? Why is he so great anyway? Yuck.

I agree, totally, Frank McCourt should be on any and every list. I loved "Angela's Ashes," it was so wonderfully written. The fact that McCourt was a public school teacher is admirable in itself, though.

[Michael H.]

Hi Half Sigma
Q: Who is Chester Nimitz?
A: The Admiral who defeated Japan in WWII.
We have a great Navy and at least one Admiral should show up on the list. Maybe knock one of those Generals off of it.

[Pete The Elder]

I used Tweed as an example of how subjective the word "great" is. Tweed accomlished a lot and was great (highly skilled) at what he did and had a big impact on American history, but a lot of what he did was illegal or immoral. I used Wyatt Earp because the list left out the old west (an integral part of the American story) and included no law enforcement people. My main problem with the original list was that it was too biased towards the present and very recent past and that it included way too many entertainers.

You are partly wrong about "schoolteachers are completely absent from the list". LBJ was a schoolteacher and Laura Bush was a school librarian and both made the list.

[Half Sigma]

LBJ was a schoolteacher and Laura Bush was a school librarian and both made the list.

Hmmm, didn't know that. For some reason I thought Laura Bush was a lawyer (was I confusing her with the last first lady?) and I assumed LBJ was a politician.

(And here are the official bios for Hillary and Laura--yep, she was a school librarian.)