Mary and Carol Higgins Clark Bring the Luck of the Irish to the I-Man, Who Could Have Used Some Charms

The dynamic Irish duo of Mary and Carol Higgins Clark visited Imus this St. Patrick’s Day on the occasion of Mary being named Grand Marshall of this year’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New York City. In the event’s 250-year history, only been four women have been anointed Grand Marshall, a role Mary is honored to fill.
 
“I was overwhelmed,” she said, sporting a fancy green coat today, and a whole lotta bling. “Four women in 250 years does make you feel pretty good about yourself.”
 
The heralded author, who has written several dozen books over more than 40 years, explained to Imus that today’s celebration really belongs to the generations of immigrants who bravely left everything behind in Ireland to begin new lives in the United States.
 
“When New York was a colony is when they started to march, all those years ago,” Mary said. “You know, my father came over with five pounds in his pocket. He was 21 years old, and he never got home again. That’s the way it was.”
 
Imus innocently asked if “home” was, in fact, Ireland, but Mary’s very proud daughter Carol chimed in with, “Where do you think?” thereby pitting Imus against her for the remainder of this appearance.
 
“Do you have another book coming out?” he asked Carol, who said that she did. “Good. Get Howard Stern to promote it for you.”
 
Back to the parade, Mary had immediately told the organizers she’d be unable to march the 30-plus block trip up Fifth Avenue, given her “rotten” ankle. “They said, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll get you a golf cart,’” she recalled. “I said, ‘That’s pretty tacky.’”
 
Instead, Mary will ride majestically through the streets of New York in a horse-drawn carriage, while police keep hoards of drunken fools on the sidelines at bay. In the spirit of the day’s celebration, Mary and Carol bestowed Imus with a card and some pins, one of which deemed Imus the “World’s Cutest Leprechaun.”
 
“I’ll be wearing that when Jesus comes down to wear it with me,” he said, instead of “thank you.”
 
Before heading over to the parade at 11am, Mary, Carol, and 1,198 other people will attend the 8:30am mass over at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. As for what time Mary will start drinking, the most important activity of the day, she told Imus, “I’d say probably around 5 o’clock.”
 
-Julie Kanfer