From a New York Times story story by Laurie Gwen Shapiro headlined “Kicked Out of Hospice, Malachy McCourt Wants One Last St. Patrick’s Day”:

The news last summer hit his friends like a punch in the gut: Malachy McCourt had entered hospice care. It wasn’t a complete surprise. Mr. McCourt was about to turn 91, and he was once known as much for his drinking as for his status as a public raconteur. He was part of a lineage that includes Jimmy Breslin and Pete Hamill, bar-stool champions of the little guy and dispensers of hard-earned wisdom.