JOHN AHERN

AHERN--John Michael Alfred, author, father, husband and retiree from the New York City Board of Education, was born in 1932 and passed away in his sleep on July 4, 2020 at the age of 87. He resided for over 50 years at Westbeth, a housing development for artists and writers, with his second wife Frieda Evans. The only child of working class Irish immigrants, John was raised by loving parents in the South Bronx during the Depression and war years. He went on to graduate from Cardinal Hayes High School where he ran track and wrote poetry, and from Brooklyn College, where his love of the written word bloomed and he met his first wife, Mila. Together they raised three children, Sean, Evan and Caitlin in the Lower East Side in the 1950's and early 1960's. John wrote many novels, poems and plays, including Second Best's a Gay Goodnight, and Go Out and See, which starred his close friend Warren Finnerty (OBIE winner for his role in The Connection), and featured, in a supporting role, his son Evan, who predeceased him in 2009. John is survived by his wife Frieda Evans, two children, Sean and Caitlin, seven grandchildren and two great- grandchildren.