The Twaining of America

Pittsburgh: Dorrance Publishing Company, Inc, 1999. First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. xiii, 348, [6] pages. Illustrations. Chapter Notes. Bibliography. Index. List of Illustrations and Credits. DJ has slight wear and soiling. Inscribed by the author with his name as well as pseudonym on the fep. Inscription reads: For Lucida Mason with best regards from John Barnard aka B. J. Fiske. John F. Barnard was a budget and financial officer with the National Security Agency and the Navy's Bureau of Supplies and Accounts. He died at the age of 94. Mr. Barnard began his federal career in 1947 with the post-World War II military government in Germany, where he negotiated trade agreements with other nations. He joined the Foreign Service in 1949, the NSA in 1953 and the Navy Department in 1960. He retired in 1970. John Fiske Bernard was born in Los Angeles, and he graduated from Yale University in 1940. In 1959, he received a master's degree in business administration from American University. During World War II, he worked for Douglas Aircraft and helped start an aircraft production factory in Oklahoma City. In 1999, Mr. Barnard wrote a book, "The Twaining of America," under the pseudonym of B.J. Fiske. It was about the coming together of races and ethnicities in 19th-century America. Upon the passing of his father in 1836, the life of Ramon Clemente changed in ways a sixteen-year-old boy could not have expected. He left his family ranch in the California section of Mexico and his recently widowed mother to venture east, into the new and somewhat intimidating United States, to pursue his education. Once ensconced into American society, there would be no turning back. B.J. Fiske's "The Twaining of America" tells the story of Ramon Clemente as it intertwines the history of his growing adopted home. He meets and marries Leann, a girl from St. Louis whose family never quite gets used to the idea of their daughter marrying a "foreigner," and gains a job at the Department of State. Ramon's travels take him across this great country, and he attaches his star to that of patriot John Fremont. The story of the Clementes encompasses the nineteenth century, ending in 1900 with the birth of a new era and the declination of their own lives. Fiske, with the help of journals, papers, and photographs found in a family friend's old trunk, has reconstructed the lives of Ramon Clemente and his darling wife, Leann, as he leads readers through the amazing progress of the United States during its most extensive period of growth. "The Twaining of America" is a well-written historical look at the captivating lives of one man, one couple, and one nation. This is a bicoastal historical novel about the westward growth of the United States as seen by a Spanish-Mexican Californian. "Twaining" refers not only to the joining of east and west but also to the coming together of two people from different backgrounds and different parts of the country. Ramon's many cross-country trips brought him familiarity with many growing American cities, such as St. Louis, New Orleans, New York, Washington, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. There is also a tour with the American Embassy in Mexico City and a trip to Europe in 1870. His Hispanic background, frequent travels, and work with the U.S. government give him a unique perspective on American growth and events such as the Mexican, Civil, and Spanish-American wars. The sixty illustrations are maps, drawings, paintings, and photographs of the period from collections around the country and abroad.