questions

I have a ton. How did Dad ever get interested in O'Neil at first? Was it truly an affinity or just a sign of the times?

Lucey: As he describes it in Curse, he first saw O'Neill in 1946. O'Neill and Carlotta had been living in Danville, CA at Tao House for 10 years, while O'Neill tried to write his huge cycle of plays. Dad got the "Black Irishman" from an O'Neill family friend, who called him the gloomy type of Irishman.

Dad indicates that before then, as with much of the country, he felt the plays were part of his life.

In 1958, when there was a revival of interest in O'Neill, he learned that Shane was in desparate straits in New Jersey, and Shane agreed to help him.