The Best of Intentions
Unforeseen Circumstances
An Irish-American Family Memoir

by Laurence P. Keenan

This memoir begins with Elizabeth Theresa McManus’s birth in a humble triplex in an Irish-American neighborhood next to an industrial factory. The story describes the family’s drive to succeed, work­aholic parents in good times and sad ones, hard work and risk-taking in the family business, disastrous store fires, political ambitions, unpredictable nor’easters, and the infirmities of old age. It is a tale of bittersweet family differences complicated by failures to communicate and concludes with a newfound admiration for the remarkable oil paintings Elizabeth left to her heirs.

About the Author

After graduating from St. Mary Academy and Dover High School (class of 1942), Larry received his B.S. degree from the University of Notre Dame, followed by an M.A. degree from Mexico City College, Mexico City. He matriculated at the Sorbonne, in Paris, where he was accepted as a doctoral candidate in history. Failing to obtain Fulbright assistance, he concluded his formal education after completing two semesters of studies at the Maryland University Extension at the University of Vienna.

After an interesting career in government, then a second in real estate, the author felt the urge to research his family’s genealogy. He soon discovered much of the forgotten history of two remarkable individuals: his parents, natives of Dover, New Hampshire. At an age when many prefer to while away leisure hours, he spent years researching and exploring the many facets of their noble lives. He developed sufficient material for two family memoirs: The Best of Intentions: Unforeseen Circumstances and Big Jim.

Ordering Information

ISBN: 978-0-9817898-7-32, $28.50 Memoir, 180 pages, plus 16 pages of photographs, 7x10 Hardcover. Publication Date: July 2010.

To order, contact Enfield Publishing & Distribution at 603-632-7377.

Also by Laurence P. Keenan

Big Jim