Against doctor’s orders, two days prior to my delivery in NYC on April 30, 1946, my mother kidnapped me from our family home in Newport, County Mayo, Ireland. She rightfully called me her steak and Guinness baby. My guess is that her intent was to nip the emigration issue in the bud. Thus, I carry both USA and EU passports.
My father Nial Edward Brendon O’Malley, was Irish. Born in London, reared in Ireland, and Biarritz, in the South of France, and educated in England, (Eton), he had great talent as an artist and writer. All around “Pops” was an interesting lunatic, a totally inappropriate father, marvelous travel guide, fabulous teller of tales, linguist, connoisseur of fine food and drink, lover of dance and music, inveterate traveler, and provider of really good bad examples.
My mother, Julie Holland, an American, was born into an exceptional family from NJ. Her parents Edward, & Lillian Holland, were the greatest grandparents on earth! Ma had vast cultural and intellectual interests, was a caring mother of eight, a reasonably good cook, and the reason the family stayed sane(ish). She was my pal, source of many excellent jokes, encouragement, and the person who domestically enslaved me throughout my childhood.
Under my parents unusual and mind expanding care I lived in three countries and six states, experienced multiple lifestyle and religion changes, and attended thirteen different schools before a miraculous graduation from high school. I gleefully admit to having had the bare bones minimum of formal education. Staring out of school room windows at swooping and gliding birds, and the surrounding woods with seasonally changing colors, was my way to avoid the boredom of American public education. Day dreaming was far more interesting! Graduating from High School was most likely a generous gift from an enraged group of teachers who never wanted to see me again. Following that horrifyingly boring experience I took various and sundry elective courses that scratched my intellectual curiosity. Mostly art, cooking, and language classes; and some highly specialized courses of education like Air Traffic Control, real estate, and aquaculture. By the grace of God, I’ve managed to achieve acceptable levels of success in a variety of endeavors.
ATC put bread on the table and greatly entertained me for many years, during which time I occupied my spare time with acting, radio announcing, professional voice work, and a volunteer Shell Fish Warden gig on Cape Cod. How the shellfish I confiscated from evil doers wound up under my dock I’ll never know. In 1986, I started what became a nationally recognized and very successful sales and marketing company with my now deceased wife, Dorinda. Her tragic loss to an out of the blue heart attack in ‘96 almost killed me as a human being. In ’03 I had a chance to save my own life and made a series of important decisions. Seizing the opportunity, I began to disassemble my entire prior life, including the business, a lovely home in New England, and a beautiful home in Ireland. All of which were emotionally destructive pieces of a shattered past.
Knowing I needed to move to an entirely different location to complete this project, I asked myself an important question. “What do you like in life”? The answer came right off the top of my head, “Arts and culture, history and architecture, cuisine, music, and a funky social mix. Enter New Orleans. It’s here that I started an entirely new and gratifying existence, and I’ve never looked back. After surviving some good old fashioned hurricanes and a flood that almost killed us all, I am proud to say that New Orleans is my home sweet home. No other city in the USA comes close to its ability to entertain and embrace.
My occupation is residential real estate sales. I love architecture and people so it’s the perfect job for me. My interests have some range, but generally they include: Theater, museums, volunteering, (long time DJ on WWOZ), long distance bicycling and a bit of weights, walking, cooking, motorcycling, sports cars, rowing, (pre N.O. I was a good skier), lots of travel, fine dining, the Louisiana Philharmonic, (fab season tickets), Jazz and Blues joints, coastal living and boating, a bit of gardening, trap & skeet shooting, languages, writing short stories and poems, and socializing with good friends and family over great food and drink.
My life is blessed, and I thank God for the gifts of eternal enthusiasm, a first rate survival instinct, a good work ethic, inner peace, great health, great friends, (some are actually family members, LOL), a clear understanding that we are on earth to enjoy ourselves, and the chance to live and work here in the great city of New Orleans.