Frank McCourt, beloved Irish-American Pulitzer-winning author and retired schoolteacher, died today of complications relating to meningitis. He was 78. He'd been sick for quite some time after being treated for a bout with melanoma.

Frank McCourt, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Angela's Ashes, is said to be "on death's doorstep" as he battles meningitis. He is not expected to survive, according to his brother. [NYDN]

Frank McCourt, the voluble Irish-American memoirist and retired New York City schoolteacher who wrote Angela's Ashes, is on his deathbed, according to the Belfast Telegraph.

• Portfolio isn't over and done with, after all: An affiliate of Condé Nast—based in Charlotte, weirdly—plans to revive the magazine's website. [NYO]
• Josh Marshall has accepted Maureen Dowd's apology for swiping some of his copy; and Dowd's new column today is Marshall-free, thankfully. [TPM, NYT]
• Upfronts 2009: What the CW and CBS have in store for the fall. [THR, THR]
• Is Jann Wenner looking to poach Condé Nast honcho David Carey? [NYM]
• Times executive editor Bill Keller says Google is the paper's "frenemy." [NYO]
• CNBC's Jeff Macke had a meltdown on the air yesterday. [Gawker]

Bill Clinton is 62 years old today. We're sure he'll find a very special way to celebrate. Others who will be blowing out candles today: Kyra Sedgwick, who is turning 43, author Frank McCourt, who is 78, and the Bronx's very own Fat Joe, who is celebrating his 38th. Former Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson is 66 today. City Council member Melinda Katz is turning 43. Literary agent Lynn Nesbit is 70. John Stamos is 45. And Matthew Perry—remember him?—is 39.

McCourt is the Pulitzer Prize-winning Irish-American author of Angela's Ashes, a memoir of his horrific childhood. He passed away in 2009.

"So who says that book people don't know how to throw a great party!" crowed Nancy Bass Wyden, the glamorous blonde lady who, improbably, is the third-generation owner of New York's most beloved and endearingly crappy used book store. 'Everyone,' said the crowd with their eyes and wan applause. No offense to Nancy or the Strand! But by the time (8:00ish on Saturday night) she made her dramatic declaration, the book people were nearing the end of their annual spate of book people parties, and the Strand's valiant but sweltering contribution to the glut wasn't making much of an impact. There were cold cuts, though, and pickles, and photos by Nikola Tamnindzic and Ed Koch's reliable wackiness, and little Adam Gopnik!

And now, in non-war news [Ed. note—don't get too used to it.]...a reader notes that Haypenny has done their own version of McSweeney's #10,—"the one 'guest-edited' by Michael Chabon, featuring stories by Stephen King, among others". "Contributing authors" to this edition—"co-edited by Salman Rushdie and Jonathan Franzen and featuring the artwork of Lisa Frank"—include Tom Clancy ("Smack My Bitch Up"), John Grisham ("He Died With His Boots Off"), Judy Blume ("Fatal Heat") and Frank McCourt ("I Should Have Just Killed You When I Had the Chance").

Haypenny 10: courageous dolphin stories