Passing of Mark Flanagan
Floor Speech
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Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay a special tribute to my friend and longtime supporter Mark Flanagan, known in Memphis as the Mayor of Midtown, who passed last week. Mr. Flanagan contributed immeasurably to our community, founding the Irish Eyes of Memphis pub crawl from downtown to Overton Square that produced an annual bonanza for the bars and businesses along the route. He had the original idea to develop the Cooper-Young neighborhood that now thrives with businesses and nightlife. Born in Washington, D.C., on March 13, 1943, he was the second oldest of nine children. Growing up in the District, he developed a lifelong love of politics, and was dubbed the Mayor of Adams Morgan, a D.C. neighborhood. (When he returned to D.C. to care after aging relatives, he was the Prince of Cleveland Park.) His father, Frip Flanagan, was a close friend of House Speaker Thomas P. ``Tip'' O'Neill and the Kennedy family, especially Bobby Kennedy. He was proud of his Irish heritage and loved spending his summers in Lisdoonvarna, Ireland. He and the late Thomas ``Silky'' Sullivan started a barbecue contest in Fanore, Ireland, so the Irish would learn about Memphis barbecue. Mark attended East Carolina University and American University in D.C. His professional career included plywood retail sales, real estate, and restaurant investments as well as associations with the late restaurateurs Silky Sullivan, Bud Chittom and Thomas Boggs. He came to Memphis in 1968 and proceeded to have a positive impact on the city, and became a kind of Pied Piper to many D.C. fellas who were encouraged to move to Memphis, including Joe (``forehead'') Dougherty; the Boland twins, Jim and Chris; William ``Bill'' (Gringo) McGaughey; Bob ``Doctor'' Harper; the Juice, former Navy SEAL O.J. Mitchell, and his brother Mike (Marcel), and Mark's beloved brother Dennis. In 1973, he founded the Memphis St. Patrick's Day Parade and Pub Crawl, the forerunner of the Beale Street Saint Patrick's Day Parade. He served on the boards of the Hollywood Child Care Center and the ACLU, on the Shelby County and State Democratic Executive Committees, and was a 1980 delegate for Ted Kennedy at the Democratic National Convention. He ran for Congress on the Democratic ticket in the '70s and '80s. A founding member of the Irish Eyes of Memphis, he was also active in the Memphis Irish Society. He worked with the late Irvin Salky on the first Beale Street Music Festival. He was active in Saving Overton Park and worked with Dr. David and Yvonne Acey on Memphis Honors Africa in April. Flanagan worked closely with me early in my career when I was the Memphis Police legal advisor, and together we petitioned the city to establish a 20 mile an hour speed limit to make Overton Square safely walkable. Mark had a huge heart and a larger personality. I extend my sincere condolences to his children, his siblings and his many friends. His was a life well-lived, and he will be missed.
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