Blue Skies, No Fences

A Memoir of Childhood and Family

By: Lynne Cheney

Narrated by: Lynne Cheney

In Blue Skies, No Fences: A Memoir of Childhood and Family, Lynne Cheney re-creates the years after World War II in a small town on the high plains of the West. Portraying an era that started with the Ink Spots on the Zenith Radio in her family's living room and ended with Elvis on the jukebox at the local canteen, she tells of coming of age in a time when the country seemed in control of its destiny and individual Americans in charge of theirs. She describes Casper, Wyoming, where she met a young man named Dick Cheney, and remembers her hometown as a place where the future seemed as bright as the blue sky and life's possibilities as boundless as the prairie. It was also a place where a pioneer heritage prevailed, and Cheney traces the paths of forebears who journeyed westward, strengthened against adversity by a bedrock belief that they would find a better life. An uplifting exploration of a special time and place in American history, Blue Skies, No Fences is also a heartfelt tribute to those optimistic souls who, in Lynne Cheney's words, "pinned their hopes on America and kept heading west."©2007 Lynne V. Cheney; (P)2007 Simon and Schuster Inc.

Critic reviews

"Cheney's memoir of her childhood in Casper, Wyoming, is a captivating amalgam of genealogy and gems of 1950s memorabilia that will bring smiles of recognition to readers of her generation." - Deborah Donovan, Booklist

"A riveting book." - Mike Gallagher, The Mike Gallagher Show

"A delightful memoir of more innocent days" - Kathryn Jean Lopez, National Review Online

"Mrs. Cheney says she knows her grandchildren cannot live as she once did, but her touching memoir makes one wish that they and other young Americans might possess what she evokes so well as she tells her own and her family's story: the resiliency to deal with challenges, the determination to do one's best, and an optimism about their future and America's future" - Myrna Blyth, National Review

"Lynne Cheney's credentials are, as far as I can tell, unprecedented among vice-presidents' wives: a doctorate in English, author of numerous books, Lockheed Martin Corp. director, chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Now a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, she is known for her combative conservatism, yet there is almost nothing about partisan politics in this nostalgic memoir. On the other hand, there is a good deal about achievement...In the '50s, girls were not typically encouraged to express aspirations beyond home, hearth, and helpmate. Young Lynne Vincent did. I am intrigued enough to hope for a sequel that reveals more about her blond ambition." - Grace Lichtenstein, Washington Post Book World