(1942-10-24)24 October 1942 Thomastown, County Tipperary, Ireland
Died
21 February 2017(2017-02-21) (aged 74) Litchfield County, Connecticut, USA
Occupation
Novelist, journalist, broadcaster
Nationality
Irish
Notable works
Ireland The Matchmaker of Kenmare Simple Courage: A True Story of Peril on the Sea Tipperary Shannon The Amethysts James Joyce's Odyssey The Celts (BBC) Goodbye, Mr. Chips (screenplay)
Spouse
Eilish Kellier, Susan Collier, Salley Vickers, Dana Mayer
Children
Frank, Bryan, Owen
Francis James Joseph Raphael Delaney (24 October 1942 – 21 February 2017)[1] was an Irish novelist, journalist and broadcaster.[2] He was the author of The New York Times best-seller Ireland,[3] the non-fiction book Simple Courage: A True Story of Peril on the Sea and many other works of fiction, non-fiction and collections.[4]
Early life
Delaney was born in Thomastown, County Tipperary, Ireland, on 24 October 1942. His father, Edward, was the principal of the national school in Thomastown; his mother, Elizabeth Josephine O’Sullivan, was a teacher at the school.[5]
Broadcasting career
Delaney began working as a newsreader for the Irish state radio and television network RTÉ in 1970.[6] In the early 1970s he became a news reporter for the BBC in Dublin, and covered an intense period of violence known as the Troubles.
After five years of reporting on the violence, he moved to London to work in arts broadcasting. In 1978 he created the weekly Bookshelf programme for BBC Radio 4, which covered books, writers and the business of publishing. Over the next five-and-a-half years he interviewed over 1,400 authors, including Anthony Burgess, John Updike, Margaret Atwood, Christopher Isherwood and Stephen King.[6] On television, Delaney wrote and presented for Omnibus, the BBC's weekly arts series. He served as the Literature Director of the Edinburgh Festival in 1980, and hosted his own talk show Frank Delaney in the early 1980s, which featured many cultural and literary personalities. Afterward, he created and presented Word of Mouth, the BBC's radio programme about language, as well as a variety of radio and television documentaries including specials on James Joyce, Robert Graves, Ernest Hemingway in Paris, and the Shakespeare industry. He presented The Book Show on the Sky News satellite channel for many years.
Writing career
Delaney said in a 2014 interview that he had wanted to be a novelist since childhood. “I’ve always relished the power of the tale,” he said, “how it grabs us and then absorbs us, and casts a spell over us, and teaches us."[7] His first book, James Joyce's Odyssey (1981), was well received and became a best-seller in the UK and Ireland. He wrote and presented the six-part documentary series The Celts (1987) for the BBC, and wrote the accompanying book.[8] He subsequently wrote five books of non-fiction (including Simple Courage), ten novels (including Ireland, Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show and Tipperary), one novella, and a number of short stories. He also edited many compilations of essays and poetry.
Delaney wrote the screenplay for an adaptation of Goodbye, Mr. Chips (2002), which starred Martin Clunes and was shown on ITV in Britain, and in the Masterpiece Theatre series in the United States.[9] His articles were published by newspapers in United States, the UK and Ireland, including on the Op-ed pages of The New York Times.[3] He was a frequent public speaker, and was a contributor and guest on NPR programmes.
On Bloomsday 2010, Delaney launched Re:Joyce, a series of short weekly podcasts that went page-by-page through James Joyce's Ulysses, discussing its allusions, historical context and references. These are housed on www.frankdelaney.com.
Private life and death
Delaney lived in Ireland, England and the USA. He was married firstly to Eilish Kelliher, with whom he had three sons, Frank, Bryan and Owen. He was subsequently married to Susan Collier, Salley Vickers, and Dana Mayer.
Frank Delaney died on 21 February 2017 at the age of 74 in Litchfield County, Connecticut, USA.
Bibliography
Fiction
The Last Storyteller (2012, Random House)
The Matchmaker of Kenmare (2011, Random House)
Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show (2010, Random House)
Shannon, A Novel (2009, Random House)
Tipperary, A Novel (2007, Random House)
Ireland, A Novel (2005, HarperCollins & Time Warner)
