A Long Walk to a Guide Dog details blind golfer Dr. Angela O'Rourke's journey toward independence. It's a unique look into bringing a guide dog into a person's life.
About the Author: Dr. Angela L. O'Rourke was born in Southern California on July 23rd, 1950. The Native American name she was given at birth was Gentle Breeze. She now divides her time between Arizona, the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario, and anywhere else the spirit may move her. Angela holds two doctorial degrees: an Ed.D. in Education and a Ph.D. in Counseling. She retired from the U.S. Army as a colonel, where she was the director of a Special Intelligence Group, which entailed traveling all around the world. She worked for military and civilian agencies, both overseas and at the Pentagon, and was involved in the Gulf War. In 1992, while working toward her Ph.D., Angela was blinded in an auto accident and forced to spend several years in the hospital. She completed her doctorates after she had completely lost her sight. She was instrumental in starting the American Blind and Disabled Golf Association and was the founder of the Angel's Blind Golf Foundation and the Disabled Angel's International Foundation, which help blind and sight impaired people around the world use golf as a tool for improving the quality of their lives. A master in Tae Kwon Do (6th degree black belt), Angela had often trained blindfolded, not knowing that she would one day lose her sight. Before her blindness, she demonstrated her martial arts skills in a number of countries. After her accident, her continued training in the martial arts helped her recovery, but it was only after blindness had forced her to learn to trust others completely that Angela says she really started living.
In 1998, she began playing golf, and in 1999 and 2000, she ranked among the top ten blind golfers in the U.S. and Canada. She's currently the number one blind female golfer in the world, and in 2002 and 2004, Angela was the blind golf champion in both Canada and the United States. She was also the first blind person, male or female, to be invited to play on a sighted pro golf tour.
Although Angela was adopted, she's proud to claim her Native American heritage. Her biological mother was Mohawk, from the Wolf Clan, and her biological father was Cayuga, from the Turtle Clan. Both were born on the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario, Canada.
Angela's husband, Bob, has family at the Wahgoshig Reserve, in northern Ontario. They have three daughters and a son, as well as a granddaughter and grandson in the United States. They're also the proud grandparents of three young Native American men on the Wahgoshig Reserve and three other grandkids in Windsor, Ontario.
Proceeds from the sale of her books are distributed among the Disabled Angel's International Foundation, which sponsors blind golf tournaments in Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, California, and Ontario, and throughout Canada, where they can to show the world that disabled people can do great things. Disabled Angel's International Foundation is aiding in the publishing of this book, because they know it will help blind people make better decisions.
Angela's dream is to help others realize that life is awesome and worth living, to encourage others to raise their quality of life, and to let the world know that every human being is worthwhile. She believes that respect and honor are the foundation for building a bright future for all of us and as a Native American, she wants other Native Americans to realize that they can succeed and be proud of their heritage while sharing it with others.
May a Gentle Breeze be with you.
