Author Promotes Two Genres on National Book Tour.

Two different genres,” Gangi says, “but strangely related. I grew up near Mary Jemison’s home in New York and learned earth medicine from Seneca elders. When I took visitors to Letchworth State Park, I made sure they knew the Jemison story.”

Mary Jemison was a Scot-Irish girl captured by the Shawnee and French during the French and Indian war. She was later gifted to two Seneca sisters and was well known as the “White Woman of the Genesee.”

Gangi originally wrote “Keepers of the Western Door,” as a screenplay that won the honor of being one of the top fifty screenplays in America from Syracuse University. When asked to rewrite the story to center on Mary’s husband, Gangi refused. She then wrote the novel to protect the approach to Mary’s story.

“It’s the only book about Mary Jemison sanctioned by the Seneca Nation as being true, and Peter Jemison’s epilogue helps convey that testimony,” says Gangi.

Peter Jemison is Mary’s Great Grandnephew.

When asked how the two books relate to each other, Gangi answered, ”Forget the Cures, Find the Cause,” is about taking charge of our health, and learning about our body, mind, and spirit. It’s written from a Native American perspective because I was not only trained by the Seneca, but I am also part Delaware. Mary Jemison’s children knew earth medicine, and Mary was a strong, compassionate woman who took charge of her life.”

Gangi’s tour continues in Fairhope at Page and Palette, December 2, and in Buffalo, New York, at Talking Leaves Bookstore and Walden Books.