Meet Mary Pat Kelly, Author of "Of Irish Blood"

Saturday, April 25, 2015 - 2:00pm to 3:00pm

About "Of Irish Blood":

In 1903, Nora Kelly, escaping an abusive lover, leaves her home in Chicago's Irish enclave for Paris. Her talents as a designer get her a job in a fashion house, sketching dresses and giving tours of the city to the house's wealthy clients. Soon she's hobnobbing with a Left Bank salon society of poets, intellectuals, and political activists. As the Great War looms and the battle for Irish independence intensifies, Nora's friends urge her to fight for her heritage. She becomes a spy for a time, launders French francs through her American bank account, and falls in love with a student researcher who's trying to preserve historic Irish manuscripts. He's also likely a spy. Nora is rapidly sucked into the maelstrom of the Irish rebellion and bears witness to its bloodshed and political turmoi.  (From Library Journal)

 

About the Author:  

As an author and filmmaker, Mary Pat Kelly has told various stories connected to Ireland. Her award-winning PBS documentaries and accompanying books include To Live for Ireland, a portrait of Nobel Peace Prize winner John Hume and the political party he led; Home Away from Home: The Yanks in Ireland, a history of U.S. forces in Northern Ireland during World War II; and Proudly We Served: The Men of the USS Mason, a portrayal of the only African-American sailors to take a World War II warship into combat, whose first foreign port was Belfast. She wrote and directed the dramatic feature film Proud, starring Ossie Davis and Stephen Rea, based on the USS Mason story.

She’s written Martin Scorsese: The First Decade and Martin Scorsese: A Journey; Good to Go: The Rescue of Scott O’Grady from Bosnia; and a novel, Special Intentions. She is a frequent contributor to Irish America Magazine.

Mary Pat Kelly worked in Hollywood as a screenwriter for Paramount and Columbia Pictures and in New York City as an associate producer with Good Morning America and Saturday Night Live, and wrote the book and lyrics for the musical Abby’s Song. She received her PhD from the City University of New York.

Born and raised in Chicago, she lives on Manhattan’s Upper West Side with her husband, Web designer Martin Sheerin from County Tyrone.

Event address: 
Titcomb's Bookshop
432 Route 6A
East Sandwich, MA 02537
Books: 
Galway Bay By Mary Pat Kelly Cover Image
$16.00
ISBN: 9780446697101
Availability: In stock at our warehouse - Ships in 5-12 business days
Published: Grand Central Publishing - February 28th, 2011