Michael Patrick MacDonald (born March 9, 1966) is an

Irish-American , image = Irish ancestry in the USA 2018; Where Irish eyes are Smiling.png , image_caption = Irish Americans, % of population by state , caption = Notable Irish Americans , population = 36,115,472 (10.9%) alone ...

activist against crime and violence and author of his memoir, ''All Souls: A Family Story From Southie''. He helped to start Boston's gun-buyback program, and founded the South Boston Vigil group, which works with survivor families and young people in Boston's anti-violence movement. He was the recipient of the 1999 Daily Point of Light Award, which honors those who connect Americans through

community service Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. Community service can be distinct from volunteering, since it is not always perform ...

. Michael has been awarded an

Anne Cox Chambers Anne Beau Cox Chambers (December 1, 1919 – January 31, 2020) was an American media proprietor, diplomat, and philanthropist who served as United States Ambassador to Belgium from 1977 to 1981. She co-owned the family company Cox Enterprises, ...

Fellowship at the

MacDowell Colony MacDowell is an artist's residency program in Peterborough, New Hampshire, United States, founded in 1907 by composer Edward MacDowell and his wife, pianist and philanthropist Marian MacDowell. Prior to July 2020, it was known as the MacDow ...

, a Bellagio Center Fellowship through the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Ca ...

, and residencies at Blue Mountain Center and

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Program. He received the Courage of Conscience Award from the Peace Abbey for his courage and committed efforts to stem the tide of inner city violence through the establishment of the gun-buyback program in Boston. He currently lives in

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and devotes all of his time to writing and public speaking on topics ranging from "Race and Class in America" to "Trauma, Healing, and Social Change." MacDonald is Writer in Residence at

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Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

Books

''All Souls: A Family Story from Southie''

A national bestseller, ''All Souls: A Family Story from Southie'' (Beacon Press, September 1999), won an

American Book Award The American Book Award is an American literary award that annually recognizes a set of books and people for "outstanding literary achievement". According to the 2010 awards press release, it is "a writers' award given by other writers" and "the ...

and a New England Literary Lights Award, as well as the Myers Outstanding Book Award administered by the Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights in North America. With ''All Souls'' MacDonald writes a gripping memoir about his life growing up in the Old Colony

housing projects Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, d ...

South Boston South Boston is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay. South Boston, colloquially known as Southie, has undergone several demographic transformati ...

, a predominantly white

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neighborhood. He writes about the crime, drugs and violence in his neighborhood in the years following Boston's busing riots, and of his brothers and sisters, several of whom fell prey to drugs, crime, and suicide. The book introduces his mother, Helen King, a feisty woman who raised her nine surviving children in the projects. Additionally, the book often mentions

Whitey Bulger James Joseph "Whitey" Bulger Jr. (; September 3, 1929 – October 30, 2018) was an American organized crime boss who led the Winter Hill Gang in the Winter Hill neighborhood of Somerville, Massachusetts, a city directly northwest of Bos ...

, a gangster and FBI informant in Southie, who brought the drug trade into the neighborhood, contributing to the deaths of hundreds of young people due to suicides, murders, and overdoses. Despite all that is bad, MacDonald writes about how proud and loyal the residents were to be from Southie.

''Easter Rising: An Irish American Coming Up from Under''

Released in October 2006, ''Easter Rising: An Irish American Coming Up from Under'' continues MacDonald's personal story. It tells of his path out of Southie and the history of the 1980s

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, and

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music scenes. In addition, he speaks of meeting older family members.

References

External links

Michael Patrick MacDonald talks about his new book, All Souls, and changing times in South Boston
''The Boston Phoenix'', by Sarah McNaught * {{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Michael Patrick 1966 births Living people American memoirists Writers from Boston People from South Boston American people of Irish descent American activists Writers from New York City American Book Award winners