Frank McCourt(1930-2009)

In "'Tis" (the sequel to "Angela's Ashes"), he talks about having known his first wife Alberta "Mike" Small before their marriage. In contrast to his dirt-poor childhood, she had a patrician upbringing. He also recalls having worked a menial job in a hotel at the time that the Korean War broke out. He enlisted in the United States Army and went through training but never got sent to the war.