William Butler Yeats's father, the painter John Butler Yeats, accompanied his daughter Lily on a trip to NYC to exhibit wares of her (and her sister Lolly's) Dublin craft business at an Irish fair at Madison Square Garden. He remained here until his death in 1922, becoming a part of the intellectual and artistic life of the city. He was taken under the wing of the NY lawyer and arts patron John Quinn, who was, for example, largely responsible for the "Armory Show" of 1913, which introduced European modern art to Americans. In an illustrated talk by Andrew McGowan, president of the WB Yeats Society of NY, stories and illustrations will be shared, revealing aspects of their lives and relationships. McGowan will describe interesting details like how, when Quinn died in 1924, the fate of his holdings was in the hands of a staffer from his law firm - the maternal grandfather of future journalist Jimmy Breslin.

Andrew McGowan was born in the Bronx, New York, of Irish immigrant parents who came from Donegal and Leitrim. He is a graduate of City College of New York and has been active in CCNY alumni activities, as well as his fraternity, Phi Kappa Theta. After serving as a public relations professional with St. Luke's Hospital Center, he became president of DWJ Television, the nation's oldest and largest video news release company. He founded the W.B. Yeats Society of New York June 13, 1990, on the poet's 125th birthday, to stimulate interest in Ireland's outstanding literary figure.