Francis "Frank" McCourt was an Irish-American teacher and writer. He won the Pulitzer Prize (1997) and National Book Critics Circle Award (1996) for his memoir *Angela's Ashes* (1996), which details his childhood as a poor Irish Catholic in Limerick. He is also the author of *'Tis* (1999), which continues the narrative of his life, picking up from the end of the previous book and focusing on life as a new immigrant in America. *Teacher Man* (2005) detailed the challenges of being a young, uncertain teacher who must impart knowledge to his students. In 2002 he was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Western Ontario.