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 On September 14, 2007 – on what would have been Neal’s 77th birthday – Wayne State University Press posthumously published “Life with Mae,” his last and most enduring gift to us. The memoir of his mother, Mary Ellen Conlon Shine, her life in Ireland and how that shaped her life in Detroit is filled with entertaining vignettes, touching remembrances and humorous anecdotes.
Upon his mother’s death at age 78 in 1987, Neal wrote that Mae Shine “was absolutely full of life. She had an enthusiasm for living that was unequaled.” He worked for a few years on the book of his mother’s life, turned the manuscript into WSU Press in the fall of 2006 and received the edited manuscript shortly before his death. His children and grandchildren picked up where he left off, shepherding the project from the editing process through publication.
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“Life with Mae” is essentially
the story of three brothers,
including the author, growing
up in Detroit in the 1930s and
1940s with a remarkable woman – their mother. Calling her “remarkable” really misses the
point by a wide margin. Better
words to describe her probably should include outrageous and outspoken to the point
of bluntness. READ A CHAPTER HERE |
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by his children and grandchildren as a way to keep his memory alive and to celebrate the release of his book, “Life with Mae.” The book was a labor of love for him. His family feels the same way about this website.