 He left in 1941 without sitting the Leaving Certificate and was expected to take over the bakery business, but always intended to write.From 1951 he lived for a time in Paris where he knew some of the French and expatriate literary community, among them Gore Vidal, Truman Capote, James Baldwin and most importantly Julien Green.Green was a French Academician and highly respected novelist and diarist, who became a mentor and personal friend.