[nopardons]

O'Reilly isn't a " '60s guy"; he's shanty Irish, who managed to go to college, graduate school ( Harvard ), make a LOT of money, but never got any class. His roots are old Jimmy Cagney gangster films/THE BOWERY BOYS.

Papa Joe Kennedy was kind of the same but he managed, because of his wife ( LACE CURTAIN BOSTON IRISH )and because he yearned for acceptance from the uber elite WASPS of his day. But at least O'Reilly hasn't ever raped nor murdered anyone, like the Kennedy clan was and still is known for doing.

The above is NOT a slam against everyone with Irish heritage...I'm just stating some all too obvious facts and the people I talked about!

BRAVA re the rest of your post.

[RitaOK]

Great read! Shanty Irish, the Bowery Boys, and “never learned class”, even with Harvard in his life. Interesting insight with a little depth, and more probable than to singularly label our boy, “a sixties kind of guy”.

Good framing of the man.

[onyx]

I guess I don't know what you mean by "shanty Irish" and "Papa Kennedy" and also "60's guy."

BOR's father, William O'Reilly Sr., was a currency accountant with Caltex, an oil company. His mother, Angela "Ann" (Drake) O'Reilly was a homemaker who also worked as a physical therapist.

While hardly well off, the O'Reillys - Mom, Dad, Bill Jr. and his younger sister, Janet - weren't exactly deprived, either. Both children attended private, Catholic schools, and the family sent Bill to Marist College, a private college in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., as well as the University of London for a year, without financial aid.

Yes, his father drove a used car, by choice. The man was "frugal." I think BOR and his sister were raised in a typical Catholic household, although his Mom was a horrid cook. Franco American spaghetti, fish sticks, etc. (My mother would never have served THAT)!