Frank McCourt08: So you left school when you were 14?...Yeah, I was actually 13 when I was finished.

So you left school when you were 14?

Frank McCourt: Yeah, I was actually 13 when I was finished.

What did a 13-year old do?

Frank McCourt: A 13-year old waited until he was 14 and then...

I got a job at the post office delivering telegrams. You had to take kind of a test to get into the post office for what they call a temporary telegram boy and then you could later go to school and get the permanent telegram boy job. And if you got that, then later on you could become a postman and maybe a clerk in the post office selling stamps and maybe rise in the ranks and become an inspector. Well I went in at 14 and I delivered telegrams for two years. I knocked on every door in Limerick. The population of Limerick at that time was about 55,000. So I think I knocked on every door in Limerick, threw telegrams in the window, under the door, everything, was attacked by dogs and irate people who didn't get the telegram they wanted. They'd attack you literally.

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Education

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