[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 106 (Wednesday, June 22, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E653-E654]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PASSING OF MARK FLANAGAN

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. STEVE COHEN

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 22, 2022

  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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