The Naming of Joshua Bean

Joshua Bean, the son of an itinerant gunsmith, is in his 14th year when the story opens. He and his father have been traveling together for two years (since Mrs. Bean passed away) and Joshua has learned everything his father could teach him about the gunsmithing trade. Then, just outside the small town of Broken Spring, South Dakota, his father is stricken with a heart attack and dies. Joshua is taken in hand by the Kaufmans, a kind local family who run a general store and bakery. Josh does his best to be helpful to them. Mr. and Mrs Kaufman are killed by robbers in Joshua's presence. Joshua, who escapes, then learns that there was more to their murders than at first appeared. A larger plot is in process. Joshua is now in danger and his adventures begin in earnest. In the course of the story he receives a number of nicknames. But it is through his friendship with Tonkweyah, a Sioux warrior who befriends him, that he comes to realize his need to find his true identity-his own name that is the key to his inner being.
About the Author: Born of missionary parents on 16 June 1928 in Japan, Donal B. Buchanan received a BA in history from the University of Colorado in 1951. His post-graduate studies included Archaeology, Old Norse, Old Irish, Early Welsh, Comparative Greek and Latin Grammar, and Basic Computer Programming. He worked for the Central Intelligence Agency for 25 years, serving in the US and overseas (Japan, India and Vietnam) as a research analyst and intelligence officer in the fields of counter-intelligence and counter-espionage. As a result of work and personal inclination, he has traveled widely throughout Europe and Asia. Since leaving government service in 1976, he has worked as a computer salesman, typesetter, graphic designer, and professional genealogist (for many years he served as an official genealogist for the Clan Buchanan Society in America and remains a Life member of that organization. For the past fifty years he has conducted linguistic and epigraphic research, deciphering a number of inscriptions from France, Spain and Portugal as well as various Ogham old Irish, Old Norse, and Old Italian inscriptions. He produced a large number of epigraphic publications between 1972 and the present. At this time he is Secretary/Treasurer and and Board Member of the Epigraphic Society and Editor of their journal: ESOP. In addition, he has published two mystery novelettes (1977). A cartoon book on bridge, two western novels, and other books on Buchanan genealogy are in the works. As an adjunct to this activity (and for purposes of building up epigraphic, linguistic and genealogical databases), he established a home computer system as well as a large library (something over 30,000 volumes). Mr. Buchanan is married, with two marvelous children and three grandchildren and four great grandchildren by his first wife, Nancy Lee, and proudly claims two step children and three grandchildren by his second beloved wife, Annie. He lives in Danvers, Massachusetts.