Mary Alice Gorman
1944-2018
I only knew Mary Alice Gorman as the woman who, in 1990, along with her partner and later-to-be-husband Richard Goldman, opened the Mystery Lovers Bookshop in Oakmont, PA. I usually make a visit to that particular store on perhaps a once a year basis, and I always found Mary Alice and Richard to be gracious hosts, always willing to recommend a book you would like once they got a handle on what your tastes were. I also knew that Mary Alice and Richard sold Mystery Lovers in 2012 only after they knew that the store would remain open and would continue to operate as a thriving independent niche-market bookstore, and it remains so to this day.
Ms. Gorman died earlier this week at the age of 74, and, as often happens, her obituary in today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tells an interesting story.
An early feminist, Ms. Gorman was threatened with suspension from her job as a teacher at Pittsburgh's Peabody High School in the 1960's when she dared to show up for work wearing a pantsuit, and was once hauled into the Principal's office for wearing earrings in the classroom that were "too dangly". She went on to serve as executive director of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the ACLU and also as director of the Allegheny County Center for Victims of Violent Crimes. In retirement after selling Mystery Lovers, she served as a Life Trustee for the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.
Best selling mystery writer Lisa Scottoline was quoted extensively in the obituary about how much she owed her success to Mary Alice Gorman when, back in the mid-1990's, she was struggling to get her first novel publicized and on to bookstore shelves. Many other now renowned mystery writers can tell similar stories.
Quite a lady and quite a life.
RIP Mary Alice Gorman.
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