Angela's Ashes Author Dies

Frank McCourt, author of the 1996 bestselling memoir Angela's Ashes, has died.

McCourt, also a beloved former school teacher, passed away Sunday at the age of 78. McCourt had been gravely ill with meningitis and recently was treated for melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer and the cause of his death, said his publisher.

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McCourt was 66 when he published Ashes, which went on to become a million seller and was made into a movie of the same name, starring Emily Watson as the title character, McCourt's mother.

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It documented his struggling childhood in an Irish squalor and has been published in 25 languages and 30 countries.

McCourt is survived by his wife, Ellen Frey, and a daughter, Maggie; three brothers, and three grandchildren.

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