Growing Up Irish: Adventures with the Team That Shaped My Life

Growing Up Irish offers readers a delightfully insightful and nostalgic journey as author and diehard Notre Dame fan Mark Andrew Hamer shares three decades of inspirational wit, wisdom, and wayfaring to South Bend that have solidified his devotion to family and the legendary fighting Irish. Whatever team you root for, join Mark as he chronicles stunning victories, crushing defeats, and uplifting life lessons from game day - and every other day - as a son, brother, father, and friend. In addition to gaining a greater understanding of the traditions, culture, and history of Notre Dame football through Mark's experiences and passion for the game, readers will be driven to reflect on translating their own passions into an enduring legacy. Find out what it means to grow up Irish. About the Author... Mark Andrew Hamer is an award-winning film director, editor, and writer. He has traveled the globe trying to quench his insatiable appetite for knowledge and inspirational stories. In his adventures he has climbed a mountain to study the remains of a twelfth-century castle in Germany, sat in a supersonic rocket car designed to go 1000mph in England, ate wild berries off a vine growing up a skyscraper in Brazil, and explored a decrepit power station in Wales that produces invisible steam hot enough to bisect anything that crosses its path. He has even spent a week marooned on a remote island in the Georgian Bay with no running water or power. He has been witness to many edifying situations in many extraordinary places around the world, but none as profound as those experienced closer to home in the American heartland. As a child growing up in Youngstown, Ohio, Mark was groomed to be a Notre Dame football fan. He traveled to South Bend every year with his father to watch the Irish play. In Mark's opinion, it's life- changing family adventures that truly shape a person. And even though he was once seen consuming crab cakes with his fingers in the presence of a US president, he has become a more refined and better human being thanks in part to his experiences traveling with his father to South Bend.