Henry delivers a compelling life story in his memoirs that is both poignant and inspiring. He begins by tracing his ancestor's immigration to the British Guiana (now Guyana) South America, as indentured servants from India and slaves from Africa before moving to describe a poverty stricken no running water, no electricity and sometimes starvation under the care of a hard working and loving single mother.
About The Author
My name is Norman Henry.
ADVERSITY Is Temporary is my first book.
I was the owner and CEO, of the famous ˜HENRY HOUSE BANQUET and CATERING HALL,"™ the largest and only premier on-premises elegant minority owned Catering Hall, located at 1530 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, New York.
I was also a practicing Public Accountant in private practice in Brooklyn for twenty five years.
I was born and raised in poverty with no electricity, no running water, no outside literary material in a remote, and secluded almost removed from civilization, on a sugar plantation with barely an elementary school education on Bath Estate, on the West Coast of Berbice, British Guiana, (now Guyana) South America.
Through the mantra I live by, teach and advocate, I became a very successful businessman in the process, I would like to inspire and motivate the reader of
self-investment, desire, direction, discipline and dedication.
I am a graduate of Bernard M. Baruch College, CUNY, with a Bachelor's degree in Business administration, (BBA) and a Master's degree in Business and Finance (MBA) from St. John's University.
My book can be read by all nationality, age and gender.
Success does not stop at race age or gender.
Reviews
OFFICE OF THE BROOKLYN BOROUGH PRESIDENT
Norman Henry immigrant story is symbolic of the millions of others who have moved to Brooklyn and New York City and all over America to attain their full potential in a society that celebrates diversity. His experience of overcoming severe adversity and discrimination in his native Guyana before arriving in Brooklyn to achieve personal and economic success is an inspiration to all those striving to build a new life in a new homeland. In his narrative of perseverance, hope, and triumph, Henry casts the poignant story of the newest Brooklynites and Americans in a powerful new light.
“ADVERSITY Is Temporary” is a one man’s story, but America depends upon the enthusiasm and contributions of other Norman Henrys to continue to make our nation the beacon of hope for man kind.
Marty Markowitz
Brooklyn Borough President ................................................................................................................................................................
“Norman Henry in ADVERSITY Is Temporary succeeds in making real the experiences of all immigrants to these United States of America. The reader is drawn into the world of ‘all things are possible’ in America, the place where dreams can come true.
Henry invites us into his childhood world of British colonialism in Guyana’s sugarcane outback and all that comes with it. We share his world of mixed racial and cultural heritage augmented with struggles, poverty and alienation born of descendents of indentured servitude and slavery. In a strange way this work shares much with Vassanjani’s The in-between World of Vikram Lall.
“The reader is forced to rise with Henry in the affirmation that hard work, determination and discipline lead to success. In the end all immigrants share with him the realization of his dreams to overcome ‘temporary adversity’. A visit to Henry Manor in Brooklyn for a celebration is sharing the immigrant’s story.
Both the reading of ADVERSITY Is Temporary, and a visit to Henry Manor are highly recommended to immigrants.”
─Dr. Beverly J. Anderson is Provost and Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs at Chicago State University
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Caribbean IMPACT Newspaper
Norman Henry lives by his mantra - ADVERSITY Is Temporary
It took Norman Henry, a successful New York businessman, fifteen years to put together his memoirs. It was worth the wait.
Adversity is Temporary is now on the bookshelves.
It goes beyond the bounds of a standard autobiographical essay.
The dramatic unfolding of Henry’s life experiences told in graphic detail provides the setting for his tell-it-like-it-is narrative presentation. The series of events and adventures is recounted with a verve that reflects the writer’s expressive talents and evocative story-telling power and boldly underlines the work’s documentary value.
In the 256 page book, Henry fashions a fascinating reconstruction of his life from colonial times in British Guiana (now Guyana), on the tip of South America to heady corporate climes of New York.
He begins the narrative by tracing his ancestors’ immigration to the
British colony as slaves from Africa and indentured servants from India. Then he journeys through early childhood and adolescence, burdened with the stigma of being a “Dougla”-; a product of a union between a Black father and an East Indian mother.
From a lowly cane-cutter, he moves on to become a policeman and an accountant before migrating to the United States to embrace the rudiments and advantages of a Western education.
Adversity Is Temporary is intended to be a motivational, inspirational and triumphant ‘Rags to Riches’ testimony and Henry hits the mark with the exactitude of his recollections, the theme, language and style. The book presents a colorful palate and a huge fresco of people and situations sharply delineated in realistic detail and moving inexorably through the pages providing authenticity.
However, the factual basis of his life’s account does not detract from the strong emotional tonality that frames the narrative.
Henry emerges as an articulate, energetic and ambitious character whose rise to prominence encapsulates the virtue of inner psychological strength -; a determining factor in ones ability to succeed in life.
The renowned Guyanese author E.R. “Ted” Braithwaite wrote the foreword for Henry’s book and lauded him for his perseverance and tenacity. He saw the work as “an unsentimental and painfully honest account of one man’s unswerving ambition to rise above the demeaning constraints of poverty and racial tolerance to carve for him self a secure niche where he might finally enjoy some measure of ease and stability.”
Brooklyn’s Borough President Marty Markowitz is effusive in his comments, saying that America depends upon the enthusiasm and contribution of the Norman Henrys to continue to make the nation a beacon of hope for mankind.
Adversity might be temporary but in the broader cultural perspectives this work might well become permanent in the annals of Caribbean social commentary.
Who knows? As Norman Henry might remind you -; “Success breeds success.” ...............................................................................................................................................................
“A motivating story of inspiration that will ignite a flame in young and old alike.”
-;Maryann Reid, bestselling author
“Marry Your Baby Daddy” St. Martins Pr ................................................................................................................................................................
Caribbean Life Newspaper
Norman Henry’s memoir, ADVERSITY Is Temporary is an emotionally captivating story of one man’s humble beginnings in British Guiana, and later achieving business and academic success in the United States.
Henry’s recitation of the deplorable circumstances in which he grew up on Bath Estate, is heart-wrenching.
“Our house,” Henry writes, “was a little shanty house built by my father in this shanty area. It had a thatched roof from the leaves of the sugarcane, and aluminum-zinc sheets on all four sides, that were buried a foot deep into the ground to prevent wind, water and sewer seepage, and villains and vermin such as mosquitoes, sand flies and other intruders.
Henry revisits his childhood with a painful truth, and tells of the ostracism he was subjected to by the predominantly East Indian population on the estate, because he is a “Dougla”-; a product of the mixed union between an East Indian mother and an African father, in early colonial Guiana, where racism of this magnitude was all too real.
Though Henry grew up not knowing much about his African father or his African heritage, when he became of age, he equally explored both African and Indian cultures.
“I, on the other hand, being mixed had this rare opportunity to experience both cultures,” he writes.
A drive to succeed runs through ADVERSITY Is Temporary , but is most poignant when young Henry incessantly nags hi mother, Dasia, to introduce him to a police inspector in the neighboring village, whom he give gifts and money to, with the intention of receiving help in getting into the British Guiana Police Force. Henry soon learns that his neighbor has no intention of helping him, even though he takes his money and gifts.
Henry’s determination to succeed, he writes, was installed in him from an early age by his mother. Though she herself was not educated, she encouraged him to stay in school after he had left to become a cane cutter.
Dasia did not live to bear witness to the fruits she’d planted, but Henry pays
homage to her throughout the book. Taking advice from the many people who’d
counseled him over the years, Henry soon realized that his hardships were
temporary and begins to plot the course of his life. While working at chase Manhattan
Bank, he attained a BBA degree and subsequently an MBA degree in Business and
Finance and subsequently opened his own accounting business.
“My accounting practice grew and also my client base grew.” He writes.“then some years later, in 1980, I was advised by my friend Leonard Gayle, to invest in real estate; which I did. Henry outlines with detailed clarity, his journey from British Guyana to New York and the many adversities he had to overcome to make it to where he is today.
If you’re sensitive to human suffering, you’ll shed a tear or two at the substance of this book.
