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Black Tie International:
Mary
Higgins Clark
Remarkable Grand Marshall
For Historic 250th St Patrick's Day Parade
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Mary Higgins Clark
REMARKABLE GRAND
MARSHAL
FOR HISTORIC
250th
St Partrick's Day
Parade
Photos by:
Blacktiemagazine/
Evelyne Busheri
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Noel Kilkenny, Consul General of Ireland and Mary
Higgins Clark, Grand Marshall for the Historic 250th New
York City St. Patrick's Day Parade |
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John
Dunleavy, Chairman of the Parade |
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John
Fitsimons, Evelyne Busheri |
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Diane Fitzsimons, Pat Murphy |
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Donna Lamont, Michael Cassin, Colin Lamont |
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Major,Stephen Ryan, LTC Robert Bateman |
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Jean-Marc O'Brien |
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Niall O'Leary, Evelyne Busheri |
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Chris and Michael Cassin |
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Attracta Lyndon, David O'Sullivan |
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Chris Cassin, The Grand Marshall, Michael Cassin |
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Adrian Flannery, Patrica O'Callaghan |
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NEW YORK, NY
– Monday, November 8th 2010;
The New York City St Patrick’s Day Parade
Committee is pleased to announce the Grand
Marshal for the Historic 250th New
York City St Patrick’s Day Parade will be the
world renowned writer and novelist
Mary
Higgins Clark.
Mary Higgins Clark was born and raised in The
Bronx. She traces her Irish ancestry to
Frenchpark in
County Roscommon and counties Sligo and Mayo. During her career she has written
twenty-nine novels, many short stories, movie
scripts and co-authored five additional novels
with her daughter.
Ms Clark is active
in Catholic affairs and has received twenty-one
honorary doctorates and numerous honors from
many organizations across the world recognizing
her life long endeavors.
Mary Higgins Clark will lead the marchers up
Fifth Avenue on
Wednesday, March 17th, 2011 for the
250th consecutive St Patrick’s Day
Parade in New York City. The Parade
is the world’s oldest and largest civic parade
and celebrates “The Faith of Ireland,
Irish heritage and Culture”.
John Dunleavy, Chairman of the
Parade, said “We are truly delighted Mary
Higgins Clark has been unanimously selected as
the 2011 Grand Marshal. She is an outstanding
Irish American who has devoted a huge amount of
her energy and charisma to building enduring
ties between Irish-America and the rest of the
world. We know that her selection will be a
widely popular one.”
The New York City St Patrick’s Parade marched
for the first time in 1762, fourteen Years
before the Declaration of Independence was
signed in Independence Hall,
Philadelphia. The Parade is regarded as the
most popular of the all the Parades in
New York City, and
honors Saint Patrick - the patron Saint of the
Archdiocese of New York
and Ireland.
The New York Parade consists only of marchers
and each year hosts some 250,000 marchers and
two million spectators. The Parade has many
outstanding marching bands, bagpipers in
marching formations, high-school and college
bands from throughout the United States
and from all over the world.
The occasion is televised live to
millions of households nationwide for four hours
by host station WNBC Channel Four. The
broadcast of the Parade is also webcast live via
the internet through the Parade’s web site at
NYCStPatricksParade.Org and WNBC Channel
Four web site at
www.wnbc.com
For additional information
regarding the 2011 Grand Marshal and Parade
events leading up to the Parade, contact Hilary
Beirne at the Parade Office or visit the NYC St
Patrick’s Day Parade web site at
NYCStPatricksParade.Org.
Biography
Mary Higgins
Clark
Mary
Higgins Clark is the world renowned writer and
novelist who was born and raised in The Bronx in New York City. Mary Higgins
Clark traces her Irish roots to the West of
Ireland. Her grandparents emigrated from
Frenchpark in County Roscommon and Counties Sligo and Mayo
around 1905. During her career she wrote
twenty-nine novels, and co-authored five
additional novels with her daughter Carol
Higgins Clark.
Ms Clark is not only
active in
literary
circles; she is also an active participant in
Irish and
Catholic affairs.
Mary
Higgins Clark attended secretarial school after
graduating high school and worked for three
years in advertising. In 1949 she joined Pam
American Airlines for one year as a stewardess.
She married Warren Clark in 1950, a man she had
known since she was sixteen. She started to
write short stories soon thereafter and in 1956
she sold her first short story to Extension
Magazine for $100.
Left a
young widow with four children by the death of
Warren in 1964,
Mary Higgins Clark began to write radio scripts
for a living. Her first suspense novel, Where
Are the Children?, was published by Simon &
Schuster in 1975 and became a bestseller. It is
currently in its 75th edition and
along with another of her novels; A Stranger
Is Watching was made into a feature film.
Mary
Higgins Clark entered Fordham University, graduating Summa Cum Laude in
1979 with a B.A. in philosophy. She was awarded
an honorary doctorate from Fordham in 1998 and
is a past trustee of Fordham and Providence College. She currently serves on the Board
of Governors of the Hackensack College Medical Center.
Mary
Higgins Clark is the number one bestselling
fiction author in France, where she received the Grand
Prix de Literature Policière in 1980 and The
Literary Award at the 1998 Deauville Film
Festival. In 2000, she was named by the French
Minister of Culture "Chevalier of the Order of
Arts and Letters."
She has
received twenty-one honorary doctorates and many
awards recognizing her lifelong endeavors.
Honors; Dame of the Order of St. Gregory the
Great - a papal honor, Dame of Malta and a Lady
of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem, The Graymoor
Award from the Franciscan Friars in 1999,
The Women of
Achievement Award from the Federation of Women's
Clubs in New Jersey, The Irish Woman of the Year
Award(1992), The Gold Medal for Education by the
National Arts Club (1993), The
Gold Medal
of Honor from the American-Irish Historical
Society (1993), The Spirit of Achievement Award
from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of
Yeshiva University (1994), The National Arts
Club's first Gold Medal in Education (1994), The
Horatio Alger Award (1997), The Outstanding
Mother of the Year Award (1998), The Bronx
Legend Award (1999), The Grand Master of the
Mystery Writers of America (2000),. The Ellis
Island Medal of Honor (2001), Reader’s Digest
Author of the Year Award (2002), The Christopher
Life Achievement Award (2003), The Ellis Island
Family Heritage Award (2008), . The “First Lady
of Mystery” award from the International Crime
Writers (2008) and this year she has been chosen
for Malice Domestic’s 2010 Lifetime Achievement
Award.
In 1996,
Mary Higgins Clark married John Conheeney, the
retired Chairman and CEO of Merrill-Lynch
Futures. They live in
Saddle River, New Jersey. They have seventeen grandchildren.
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