Introducing Constance Gorman

Today I am so pleased to introduce to you a very inspirational woman who is not only a former business owner, a technical writer, a teacher and mentor, but she is now the author of the non-fiction book The Great Black Hope. She is one busy lady! After reading the following excerpt about the book, I’m sure you all will be as impressed as I am with this talented and caring individual. Thank you to Constance Gorman for allowing me to share her story.

 

 

People can keep dark secrets or be in the closet about many things. An extra-marital affair, alcoholism or sexual abuse are some of the top secrets kept hidden in the deep recesses of someone’s daily living. However, the most common secret may be the inability to read, or rather, illiteracy. The Great Black Hope , written by Constance Kluesener Gorman, is a true-story that chronicles the life of a high school student with a secret that haunted him for years. His name is Tony Daniels.

Tony, a youth from the inner city, has stood out since grade school as a talented football player. By the time he reached high school, Tony was a standout as defensive lineman for racking up substantial sacks of the opposing team’s quarterback. In December, 2003, he was voted First Team – all districts- by The Cincinnati Enquirer’s All Stars group of football coaches and staff of Greater Cincinnati with 70 tackles, 30 tackles for a loss, 9 sacks and a fumble recovery.

Yet, despite all the accolades for his football achievements, Tony suffered from a continual state of sadness. Deep inside him, he kept a secret so painful that he found it hard to share it with anyone. Then, Tony found he faced an obstacle that no street smarts or physical strength could conquer-illiteracy. Tony could read simple three or four letter words, but, words that contained vowel blends or multiple consonants were beyond his understanding. Tony survived school by cheating his way through in order to hide his disability. But, when it was time for the state proficiency tests, and Tony was required to pass them to graduate from high school, he knew that his secret had to be told. It had to be told to SOMEBODY.

He couldn’t tell his mother because he was somewhat of a discipline problem already. Tony didn’t want to disappoint his mother again! Looking back, Tony surmises that his issues at school stemmed from his inability to read and the frustration he experienced when he couldn’t learn subject matter at the same pace as his classmates. He felt he had no place to turn. So, he kept his illiteracy disability a secret until it was impossible to continue any longer.



Constance Gorman was a Chemistry teacher at his high school and tutored his brother, Mike occasionally after school. With these tutoring sessions, Mike began to know that Ms. Gorman was the type of teacher who would put in the time to help out one of her students. So, when Tony started having trouble in school the following year, Mike pointed Tony to Ms. Gorman.




Levi Jones and Constance

Tony felt comfortable with Ms. Gorman and shared his secret with her. Together, they embarked on an adventure to rid him of illiteracy, as well as his continual bouts with depression and a life threatening heart ailment. Once Tony became an avid reader, Ms. Gorman continued in her mentoring position and helped him pursue his dreams of college football and the NFL. Along the way, Tony picked up other mentors, such as Levi Jones of the Cincinnati Bengals, Lawrence Taylor of the New York Giants and NFL Hall of Fame, and a consortium of heart surgeons at Ohio Heart.

The Great Black Hope is an inspirational story of hope for readers who may have a dark secret, suffer from depression or despair about one of the many bumps in the road of life. The book is currently being considered for a book-to-film project by the film industry.

 

Tony with his wife and children

The Great Black Hope can be purchased at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Apple Stores, Sony, Kobo, Baker and Taylor and all other retail outlets in print and e-book format.

The Great Black Hope website: http://sufficientgracebook.weebly.com

Constance Kluesener Gorman is a former business owner and product development chemist, who received a calling to participate in the education sector. She is currently a private tutor, but also occasionally teaches business, chemistry and mathematic classes at local universities in Greater Cincinnati. She holds a B.A. in Chemistry from Miami University, an M.B.A. from the University of Cincinnati and a B.S. in Education from the McGregor School at Antioch University.

Although Constance has been published as a writer in technical journals and other print media relating to her business career, The Great Black Hope is her first effort in writing a nonfiction novel. She plans to write and publish the remaining fifty-seven or so other stories relating to her spiritual favors and experiences.

Constance’s long term goal is to revitalize the inner city community of Lincoln Heights in Cincinnati, the first incorporated village in the United States whose population was predominantly African-American and self-governing. Lincoln Heights is the community in which her students live.

Constance Gorman

websites: Tutoring- http://www.mycincytutor.com
Book Release- http://sufficientgracebook.weebly.com
e-mail: ckluesenergorman@yahoo.com OR mycincytutor@yahoo.com