Frank Delaney, author, broadcaster and scholar, was born in Thomastown, Co. Tipperary on this day in 1942.
Delaney launched his Bookshelf programme on BBC Radio 4 in 1978, and in the following six years interviewed more than 1,000 authors on the programme, including Margaret Atwood, John Updike and Stephen King. His aim was to bring out what was interesting for listeners rather than for literary critics and academics. His style earned him a large following.
On his Bookshelf programme, he attempted to make the work of James Joyce more accessible. To get to understand Ulysses better himself, he wrote about it, and produced the book ‘James Joyce’s Odyssey: A guide to the Dublin of Ulysses’.
On BBC television, Delaney fronted the weekly arts series ‘Omnibus’ and a six-part series, ‘The Celts’ which was seen in 40 countries. He later presented ‘The Book Show’ for Sky.
In 2002, he moved to America, where he was described by NPR (National Public Radio) as ‘the most eloquent man in the world’. Presenter on NPR, Scott Simon said: ‘we kept asking him back to talk about books, Ireland or even soccer because no one could make more of a ceremony out of a sentence’. This unfailing articulacy provided the foundation for his all-round impresario status as author, broadcaster, scholar, lecturer, journalist and literary prize judge.
Delaney wrote six works of non-fiction and sixteen works of fiction. Several of the non-fiction works were novels exploring the history of Ireland. His bestseller Ireland (2004) starts with the arrival of an itinerant storyteller at a house in rural Ireland in 1951, and the fascination his tales have for a young boy: “What I told you tonight – it isn’t my story alone. It belongs to every Irish person living and dead. And every Irish person living and dead belongs to it. And to all the story of Ireland; blood and bones, legends, guns and dreams, Catholics, Protestants, England, horses and poets and lovers.”
Frank was born to Edward Delaney, a primary school principal in Thomastown, and Elizabeth Delaney (nee O’Sullivan), a teacher at the same school. Both were trade-unionists. Frank attended the Abbey C.B.S in Tipp Town. Delaney and his wife Diane Meier made their home in Kent, Connecticut. In his time in this small riverside-town, he became known as the ‘Bard of the Housatonic’. He died there in February 2017.
Sources:
https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/obituary-frank-delaney-1.2987889
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2017/mar/28/frank-delaney-obituary
