Growing up in Depression-era New York, Carroll O'Connor made his way armed with the quick wit, mischievous bent of mind, and engaging Irish charm that flow through these pages. From his rough-and-tumble days in the merchant marine during World War II - marked by big dreams, bar brawls, and bloody noses - he moved on to salad days in Dublin.

There he received an education in literature and in life, found his true calling in the theatre, and married his wife, Nancy...a fifty-year success story that's still going strong. O'Connor was soon invited to Hollywood, the scene of his greatest achievements. His unique perspective on the creation of All in the Family - and his certainty at the start that it was destined for ratings disaster - reveals television history in the making.

But Hollywood was also the source of O'Connor's most painful memory: the cocaine addiction and suicide of his son, Hugh. As a grieving father, O'Connor was forced to assume the most poignant and powerful role of his life, and he speaks honestly here about both his loss and his efforts to educate others about the horror of drug abuse.