First published 2007
Lynne Cheney opens her memoir in the living room where the Ink Spots play on the family Zenith Radio, marking the start of her postwar childhood in Casper, Wyoming. She recreates life on the high plains during an era when America felt master of its fate and citizens believed they controlled their own destinies. Cheney traces her coming of age in this small western town, where endless prairie stretched beyond every horizon and the sky promised unlimited possibilities. She recalls meeting a young man named Dick Cheney and describes a community shaped by pioneer values and westward dreams. The author follows the journeys of her ancestors who traveled toward better lives, sustained by unshakeable faith in their American future. Her story spans from those early radio days through the arrival of Elvis on local jukeboxes, capturing a time when optimism defined both personal and national character.
Genres: 20th-century, american, autobiography, biography-memoir
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: coming-of-age, found-family
Setting: Casper, Wyoming, United States
Period: Postwar Era
320 pages · Hardcover · Threshold Editions