Ken Gormley, president of Duquesne University and acclaimed author who grew up in Edgewood and Swissvale, will give a book talk on his first novel, “The Heiress of Pittsburgh,” on Tuesday, September 27, at 6:30 p.m. in the Edgewood Club ballroom. Lifelong Edgewood resident and community leader Dallas Frey and longtime WTAE news anchor Sally Wiggin will moderate the discussion.
The event, hosted by the C.C. Mellor Memorial Library, is free and open to the public. Refreshments and a book signing will follow. We do request that you register in advance.
“The Heiress of Pittsburgh” has garnered rave reviews both locally and nationally.
Author Scott Turow calls it a “twisty, fulfilling legal thriller.” Football legend Franco Harris says the book “takes us on an emotional journey through Pittsburgh” and shows “how the choices we make can make a difference.” Part legal drama and part love story about the people, places and simple virtues that flourished in working class towns and ordinary communities that once built America, the novel will bring back vivid memories for those who grew up in the Edgewood and Swissvale communities of past eras.
Gormley will talk about the influence of his own experiences – and developing his love for reading and writing at C.C. Mellor Library — in the recounting of this heartwarming story.
About the book:
“Attorney Shawn Rossi could have earned a fortune. He could have worked at big firms in booming cities and sunnier climes.
Instead, he returned to Pittsburgh, the struggling steel town of his youth — to help regular people.
And now he’s doubting his life decisions.
His wife has just died and his teenage daughters are getting piercings and staying out all night. His professional life is equally in shambles: He’s handling an unwinnable estate contest and representing the one person he vowed never to get near again: his ex-college flame, Marjorie.
Even for Rossi, this case appears hopeless.
A coffin shows up with the wrong corpse.
Nuns from a secretive home for unwed mothers can’t break their vows of silence to testify.
The family is about to lose everything.
New York Times bestselling author Ken Gormley delivers a powerful drama about the decent, largely forgotten qualities that once were the bedrock of simple towns whose inhabitants built America. The Heiress of Pittsburgh reawakens hope that the precious qualities of past generations can be reimagined to create a dazzling new future. But only if a few courageous people are willing to boldly redefine success.”