Not being in a major metropolis, Otto Book Store, 107 W. Fourth St., usually has to rely on regional authors or on those who have speaking engagements at local clubs or colleges for our signing events.
Can you imagine my surprise when Ken Gormley, an author who's been on dozens of national television shows and whose book has been reviewed by all the major newspapers and magazines, e-mails me and asks me if I'd like him to stop in and sign some of his books?
It seems he and his family were planning to visit their friends, Dave and Carol Bresticker and their family, and the good doctor suggested he e-mail me to see if I'd like him to drop in. Would I ever!
I got his book down (all 800 pages of it) and started to read.
"I'll never get it read in time to spread the word before he gets here," I said to myself.
So I cheated. I read part of it and then brought up his interviews and newspaper reviews and everything else I could find about him on the Internet.
The chapters I read in his book, "The Death of American Virtue: Clinton vs. Starr" showed me how smoothly he writes and how fairly he treats his subjects.
I could also see how his in-depth understanding of constitutional law gave him a basis for his occasional criticism of the proceedings.
The TV and radio interviews showed his object in writing his book. He took 10 years to interview hundreds of the major and minor characters in the legal drama. He felt there should be a comprehensive soup-to-nuts history of what he saw as a crucial turning point in the political landscape of our country.
He believed the polarization of political beliefs got a running start during the much publicized revelations of the misdoings of more than one public figure.
As a result, politicians as well as citizens could not work together on major issues. We had lost our American virtue of pulling together through the tough times.
From a "Rate my Professor" segment of the Duquesne University Web site, I learned he is a much appreciated teacher who "is an overall great guy to talk to whose door is always open to students."
From Wikipedia, I learned Gormley is the interim dean and a Constitutional Law professor at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh and serves as counsel to the firm of Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis.
He writes for popular publications ranging from Rolling Stone to the ABA Journal and wrote an earlier book call "Archibald Cox: The Conscience of a Nation."
And from his Facebook site, I learned he lives in Forest Hills. He attended St. Anselm High School, University of Pittsburgh and Harvard Law School. He is 55 years old and enjoys teaching, writing, walks and a good joke.
From the jacket of his new book, I learned in addition to much of the above that he lives with his wife, Laura, and their four children.
"The Death of American Virtue: Clinton vs. Starr" retails for $35.
I can't wait to meet him! You can, too, from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday at Otto's, "a booklover's paradise."
