An American Education

About the Book

In 1935, the depth of the depression, Edward Gorman, a freshly minted Baltimore public high school graduate, unable to afford college and unwilling to settle for a dead end $11 per week warehouse job without first glimpsing at least some of the world, discovered that the army would send him to Hawaii, an exotic paradise few had any hope of ever visiting. The Old Army (pre-World War II) quickly introduced an innocent boy to life’s harsh realities and began an education of quite a different kind than an 18-year-old can expect today.

That first step determined the haphazard course of a full and interesting life determined largely by pure happenstance, each phase linked to the next by an unforeseen circumstance or chance meeting. Such “linkages,” as he calls them, can be recognized only by hindsight, and are a theme running through this unusual book. Although we are told of certain unique occurrences in both the battle of Leyte (the retaking of the Philippines from the Japanese) and the battle of Okinawa, the last and bloodiest of World War II, this is not a war book. It is a very personal life story written in an easy style that captures the author’s personality. At the same time it tells us things about America that we did not know. His American education was topped by a Masters Degree from Oxford at age 70.

About the Author

Edward Gorman enjoys life in East Hampton, New York, a still somewhat rural, ecologically interesting, and decidedly beautiful Long Island community some 100 miles from New York City. He is actively involved in local do-goodism, particularly environmental issues, local politics, and schools. He reads mostly history and biography and likes to cook. Dinner parties with carefully chosen wines are always for a full table of ten. His wife is recognizably talented at setting a beautiful table and encouraging a lively, enjoyable evening.