Mel and Joan Gordon are devoted to raising awareness of the many significant contributions General Casimir Pulaski made in Poland, his homeland, and in America where he died as a Revolutionary War hero on a battlefield in Savannah. They bring considerable experience, talent, and tenacity to their near obsessive endeavor.
Joan Gordon
Joan read Gone with the Wind when she was fourteen and vowed she would leave the poverty and harshness of the Appalachian Mountains to move to her heart’s true home, Georgia. Typical of much of her life, she accomplished her goal. She received her BBA and MBA at Georgia State University with a 4.0 GPA.
Her love of writing was a hobby as she carved out a career in the financial services industry. But her ability to pen better memos, reports, and requests for raises and promotions served her well.
She worked in several Central European countries following the fall of Communism, was responsible for awarding grants to non-profit housing organizations throughout the United States, and served on boards ranging from affordable housing to animal welfare. She found time to write a book and a weekly newspaper column, oversee youth writing contests, and meet her future husband, Mel.
Mel Gordon
Mel attended the University of Georgia on a voice scholarship. From there, he moved to New York and began performing as a singer, model, and actor. In the midst of becoming a “Marlboro Man”, and capturing the title role in an upcoming film, Tarzan, he was drafted into the Army during the Vietnam War Era.
After military service, he moved to California and became a real estate developer and broker. His gift of gab, good looks, humor, and southern charm helped him build a successful career and friendships among celebrities and other professionals.
He has four daughters who are nationally recognized horse trainers and riders.
Mel retired to Georgia, his childhood home, where he found time to run a business, direct plays for the local community theater, take on historic preservation projects, and meet his future wife, Joan.
Mel and Joan Gordon
‘The whole is better than the parts’, describes the partnership of Mel and Joan. Their charisma attracts people from diverse backgrounds. When they attend conferences, social functions, performances, or other gatherings, they are frequently interviewed, invited to speak, and given special access to experts and historic sites.
Their research trips in the U.S. and abroad have unearthed little known facts about their forgotten hero and generated a great deal of excitement for their book. They are regular attendees of the Kazimierz Pulaski Conference in Warka, Poland where they have presented a paper about Pulaski’s contributions to America. They gave a similar presentation to a meeting of the France Etats-Unis Association in Marseille France.
Memberships:
Mel and Joan are participants in the Savannah General Pulaski Committee, Sassafras Literary Exchange, Tybee Arts Association, Savannah Writers Group, Richmond Hill Historical Writing Group, the Georgia Historical Society, and the Telfair Museum. Joan and Mel are also well known to the leadership of the Poles in America Foundation and American Council for Polish Culture.