Cousin Jack

Well, we're all excited at my house these days.  Jack Dempsey, heavyweight champion of the world and a member of my mother's family, is being inducted posthumously into the Irish American Hall of Fame next month.

Dempsey, known as the Manassa Mauler after his southern Colorado home town, is this year's inductee from the world of sports and joins such luminaries as Maureen O'Hara, Eugene O'Neill, Henry Ford and John F. Kennedy in the inaugural class of 2011. The induction ceremonies are May 14th in Chicago.