Here are 50 compelling eulogies, printed memorial tributes, and elegiac poems that span the American Catholic experience from colonial times to the present. They include remembrances of pioneers in social justice, education and health care; military and pacifist heroes-, artists and sports legends; and founders of distinctly American religious orders. Carol DeChant's entertaining prefaces to each eulogy place the deceased in their respective eras and are story-telling at its best.
Foreword Thomas Lynch 13
Introduction Carol DeChant 23
I We Remember Our Heroes
The Happiest Man on Earth Chaplain Mychal Judge, NYFD Reverend Michael Duffy 35
An American Original Mother Katharine Drexel Anthony Walton 45
A Hero's Last March General William Tecumseh Sherman author unknown 55
The "Opposing General's" Valor President John Fitzgerald Kennedy President Ronald Reagan 63
A Saint for Our Age: Dorothy Day Jim Forest 69
A Eulogy to Whitefeather of the Ojibway Larry Cloud-Morgan Patricia LeFevere 83
Plain-Spoken, Practical, Taking Care of Business: Major David G. Taylor John Taylor 87
II We Remember Family
Aloise Steiner Buckley R. I. P. William F. Buckley 97
Remembering Pup: William F. Buckley, Jr. Christopher Buckley 102
Every Gift but Length of Years: John F. Kennedy, Jr. Senator Edward Kennedy 109
The Golfatorium: Meditation on a Mother Dying Thomas Lynch 115
Coming Home to St. Pat's Rosemary Clooney Nick Clooney 137
What You Can Expect from the Son of a Bookmaker Wellington T. Mara John Mara 141
Eulogy for a Baby Who Dies after Baptism by his father 149
III We Remember Our Friends
Leaving a Legacy of Kindness: Phil Rizzuto Bob Klapisch 153
Sissies Anonymous: Andre Dubus Tobias Wolff 157
My Closest Friend for Sixty Years: Remembering Walker Percy Shelby Foote 163
Enemy of the Passive Voice, Who Rocked Some Jaunty Hats Liz Christman Melinda Henneberger 167
A Friend of the Family: Mr. O'Connell Is Dead Dorothy Day 171
The Cardinal's Epistle to the Jews: John Cardinal O'Connor Rabbi Haskel Lookstein 181
Remembering My Friend Tim Russert Maria Shriver 187
IV We Remember Our Artists
Eulogy for Andy Warhol John Richardson 195
Danny's Promise: In Memory of Danny Thomas Phil Donahue 199
The Angels of Patricia Neal Terry Mattingly 203
He's Comin' Through: Milton Batiste Jason Berry 207
Wit and Wisdom on the Refrigerator Door Erma Bombeck D.L. Stewart Anne Gasior 221
An Unwieldy Radiance of Spirit: Flannery O'Connor Katherine Anne Porter 225
The Invisible Artist: Sculptor Frederick Hart Tom Wolfe 229
V We Remember Those Who Served Us
Servant of Incurable Cancer Patients Rose Hawthorne Lathrop Julian Hawthorne 243
Imperiled Men: Mourning CAG Andre Dubus 255
The Great Heart of Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill Thomas O'Neill III 265
The Angel of AA: Sister Mary Ignatia "Bill W" 271
Thank God for the Life of Elly Chovel! Reverend George A. Garcia 283
In the Irish Tradition: Daniel Patrick Moynihan Lawrence J. McCaffrey 287
VI We Remember Those Who Showed Us The Way
Didn't He Show Us the Way? Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Monsignor Kenneth Velo 301
The Work of Democracy: César Chávez Mario T. Garcia 307
The Poster Boy for Hope: Ron Santo Monsignor Dan Mayall 317
Elizabeth Ann Seton is the First Wholly American Saint! Homily of the Holy Father Pope Paul VI 321
Fixed, Solid, Holding a True Position: Rev. Robert F. Griffin, CSC Luis R. Gamez 327
One Witness, Pointing: Mary K. Meyer Father Mike Coleman 333
From Slave to Priest': Father Augustine Tolton Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers 339
VII We Remember With Poetry
Game Called: Babe Ruth Is Gone Grantland Rice 347
Quid Pro Quo: On Losing a Child Paul Mariani 349
His Tools, for My Father Michael Fleming 353
To Mother Marianne Robert Louis Stevenson 357
To Kosciuszko John Keats 361
Atonement: Joyce Kilmer, R.I.P. Aline Kilmer 365
To Philip Daniel Berrigan, SJ 367
The Innocents: Mary Surratt and Others Al Rocheleau 369
VIII We Remember The Unknown Child
Restoring Dignity to Abandoned Children: Rest in His Arms 377
Notes 383
Credits And Permissions 393
Discussion Questions For Book Clubs 399
Acknowledgments 401
About the Author 403
Overview
Here are 50 compelling eulogies, printed memorial tributes, and elegiac poems that span the American Catholic experience from colonial times to the present. They include remembrances of pioneers in social justice, education and health care; military and pacifist heroes-, artists and sports legends; and founders of distinctly American religious orders. Carol DeChant's entertaining prefaces to each eulogy place the deceased in their respective eras and are story-telling at its ...