Duquesne president Ken Gormley publishes first novel
Pittsburgh and its surrounding communities are a backdrop for Ken Gormley's debut novel, "The Heiress of Pittsburgh."
Ken Gormley, the president of Duquesne University, at work in his office. Gormley has just published his first novel, "The Heiress of Pittsburgh."
The cover of Ken Gormley's first novel, "The Heiress of Pittsburgh"
As a lawyer, law professor, best-selling author and, more recently, a university president, Ken Gormley has been on plenty of airplanes criss-crossing the country.
But instead of thumbing one of those easy-to-digest thrillers you can pick up in an airport gift shop before takeoff, Gormley has been busy on some of those flights refining a thriller of his own.
Creating dialogue, characters and situations was 无毛视频渁 form of enjoyment,无毛视频� Gormley explained. 无毛视频淚 have a little study at home, and my wife, Laura, would say, 无毛视频榃hy are you going in there on a Friday night or a Saturday night?无毛视频� And I would say, 无毛视频榃orking on creative writing like this is as much fun as going to the movies.无毛视频� You无毛视频檙e just creating it yourself. You无毛视频檙e creating the story. It really is, for people who love to write, a form of relaxation.无毛视频�
After a 30-year gestation, Gormley无毛视频檚 first stab at a novel, 无毛视频淭he Heiress of Pittsburgh,无毛视频� was published in October by Milford House Press of Mechanicsburg. The tale of a widowed Pittsburgh lawyer dealing with rebellious teenage daughters and a case involving an estate, it无毛视频檚 a departure for the Duquesne University president who built a national profile with a well-regarded account of the 1998 impeachment of President Bill Clinton and a biography of Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox. 无毛视频淭he Heiress of Pittsburgh无毛视频� is something that Gormley wrote, rewrote, revised, and revised again over the years whenever he had a spare minute between teaching, practicing law, writing nonfiction and other obligations.
无毛视频淚 always knew I wanted to write a piece of fiction, and I always knew I wanted it to be about Pittsburgh and working-class towns like this place where I grew up,无毛视频� Gormley said.
A native of Swissvale and Edgewood, the 66-year-old first made his mark as a writer when he won a college journalism award from Rolling Stone magazine while attending the University of Pittsburgh. After earning a degree in political science and philosophy from Pitt, Gormley went to Harvard Law School. But he returned to Pittsburgh after completing his juris doctorate, and has remained steeped in the community ever since.
The gritty, working-class milieu that Gormley depicts in 无毛视频淭he Heiress of Pittsburgh无毛视频� is, he believes, 无毛视频渟uch a rich part of American history. 无毛视频� All of these working-class communities in the whole region, I think they are the heart of America, and we often forget how much they contributed. I grew up right across from the Union Switch & Signal (railway company) and I can still hear the sounds of the railroad cars banging into each other at night.无毛视频�
Gormley continued, 无毛视频淚 can close my eyes and imagine these remarkable people who had such character and had such integrity, but they didn无毛视频檛 get a lot of fame or fortune. They kept their heads down and did the work that was important for the whole country. I think the whole region is a magnificent place for a writer to capture.无毛视频�
After all the tinkering with 无毛视频淭he Heiress of Pittsburgh,无毛视频� Gormley said he reached a point where believed the book was ready to be shared with the wider world. All the royalties from it are being earmarked for Duquesne无毛视频檚 creative writing program because 无毛视频渋t无毛视频檚 really important for young people to be supported in learning the craft of writing, which is a difficult and lonely occupation,无毛视频� he said.
And, no, Gormley is not planning on penning a second novel, though he does have other projects in mind.
无毛视频淚 am a writer by birth,无毛视频� he said. 无毛视频淚 can无毛视频檛 help myself.无毛视频�