Adapted Classics presents two illustrated human interest stories by Irish author Donn Byrne. Both stories are about professional boxers who fight opponents in the ring while simultaneously battling demons within themselves. "Irish" follows a popular, young boxer on the rise who knowingly risks his spotless record by taking a match he believes un-winnable for money he needed to support to his unappreciative, delusional father. The second story, A Man's Game, tells of an aging boxing champion who is harassed by his conscience in the ring for accepting a match he didn't want and an outcome he couldn't abide for bribe money he would use to advance his son's education. The fighting scenes in these stories are vividly described, partly owing to Donn Byrne's experience as an amateur boxer who attained the lightweight championship while attending Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.
To add both context and interest to these outstanding stories, Liam O'Neil envisions, interprets, and illustrates the boxer characters and their battles in and out of the ring to great effect. His 29 illustrations shine forth brilliantly to grace these deeply probing and lively Donn Byrne stories.
Byrne, Donn: - Donn Byrne (Brian Oswald Donn-Byrne) was born in 1889 during his Irish parent's business trip to New York City. Owing to this only somewhat unexpected happenstance, he lived in New York for the first three months of his life. In 1912 of his own volition he returned there to live and that's where he first discovered he could be-then showed he would be-a prolific and successful fiction writer. All the same, he forever regarded himself to be an Irishman from head to heart to heels, and through loving and living life to the hilt, he always acted Irish. He was raised in County Armagh, a hilly region of northern Ireland. Then after his second (but only willful) stint in America had completely played out in 1922, he happily returned to Ireland to live, work, raise a family and further his authorial career. Unfortunately, he died tragically in Ireland in 1927 when a faulty steering gear in his auto forced him off a cliff and into high tide of the bay below. He drowned at only thirty-eight years of age.Donn Byrne always had a way with words and an abiding interest in the entire lexicons of both English and Gaelic. As a young lad in County Armagh, he always helped arrange the language festivals he won over and over again to the grumbling dismay of his competitors. Nevertheless, they couldn't help but like the boy for his singing, charm, nimble wit, self-assurance, friendliness, and readiness to talk to anyone about anything. And although relatively small in size as a boy, he was also gifted athletically. Eventually, as he advanced in age and size, he won the lightweight boxing championship at Trinity College in Dublin while studying romance languages and Irish literature, winning, unsurprisingly, various prizes and scholarships in these pursuits as well.The two illustrated boxing stories in this micro collection of two help demonstrate why Donn Byrne was able to succeed as an author. He drew upon his love of nature and a wide breadth of outdoor life (fishing, hunting, horsemaship, etc.) and athletic activities, plus rambunctious social experiences, to invent intimate stories. He then conveyed them in words he absorbed during his life-long fascination with language. But even though all writers are into words and some undoubtedly could match Donn Byrne's intense relationship with language, few could match his ability to meld precise language with such a wide-ranging variety of life experiences, for few if any had lived their lives as vigorously as he.
O'Neil, Liam: - Liam O'Neil likes everything that comes with telling a good story. This could be a cascade of perfect words written to please the mind reading them. Or the pleasant smile of a cherished person they are read out loud to. Sometimes these words come with pictures and Liam makes these, for they believe this brings more delight to the discussion of minds and words. Liam's work is done almost completely traditionally, specializing in watercolor and pen and ink. They received a BFA in Illustration from the SCAD, and currently live in Saint Paul, MN. You can find more of their work at oneil-illustration.com and read some stories that they've written themselves (and made pictures for).
Tiller, Jerome: - Jerome Tiller lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is owner of ArtWrite Productions, a publishing company bent on making education and reading more pleasurable for youth. Adapted Classics, an imprint of ArtWrite Productions, uses fine-art illustrations to introduce classic stories to young readers. Learn more about Jerome and his company at: artwriteproductions.com and adaptedclassics.com.
