it's a great pleasure for me to be here and i want to thank, in particular, professor mcfeek and hillary flynn, who made this possible. i'm going to first read from blood feud, sort of give you a small portrait of the protagonist in the novel. kenny had the soft, delicate looks of his mother, a girl who is grandparents came to america from the severity of rural ireland to the harshness of new york city in the 1890's from rough common family lorsed. he was quietly and lovingly by respectful parents. his mother was francis anne boyle, an irish girl from the bronx, whose family was unwilling or unable to escape from the tranquility of two family yards in the outer boroughs. instead like many families they remained in the south bronx and inwood touting apartment living. most of the offspring of this family, detesting this condition, diligently sought a place in the middle class. some struggled and failed. most attained stability through service to the city. others surpassed their assigned status and rose to positions of influence in many areas of the society, reaching as far as the u.s. sena