Preston Diamond In The White House

Author's Note

"T10">This story is a work of fiction, only loosely following a historical outline. The names of actual people (alphabetically): Ulysses S. Grant, Queen Isabella II, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Emperors Napoleon I and III, Maximilian, William Seward are included with no intent to credit, discredit, change or alter the part they have played in history. Patowmack is the Potomac River (the spelling change officially took place in 1931). The ferry crossings of Citadel and Conception Landing are entirely fictitious, they have no geographical placement or representation. I created the town named Conception to suit the introduction of the Preston Diamond series. Distance and chronology are manipulated to fit the plot.

Les Apaches were a group of thugs associated with the French underground. There was a revolver named for them that was more than a gun, it also had knuckle duster and knife in one pocket-size package. My reference, “Preston grudgingly admired Les Apaches' show of guts. They were fighters akin to the famous French Foreign Legionnaires who battled in 1863: sixty-two soldiers and three officers fought against two thousand revolutionaries (1200 infantry; 800 cavalry) in Mexico. The Legionnaires, out of bullets, and down to six men, fixed bayonets and charged.” is an actual account. In fact, of the last six men who stood up and fought, three were taken prisoner. The officer in charge lost his wooden hand; it now rests in honour in the Legion's Hall of Fame in Aubagne, France.

The Chinese (for the most part, railroad workers) did build extensive tunnel networks under the streets of many cities: Pendleton, Oregon; Havre, Montana; Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, to name a few. From these underground passages, they operated legitimate businesses and some that were not necessarily in accordance with the laws of the day. I don't know if ever there were tunnels in Washington, DC. The Chinese underground in this story is purely fiction.

Xi-Ping Chiang is a completely fictional character. However, he is inspired by, and is a tribute to, a real life legend: one Zi-Ping Wang, an early 20th century Wushu Grandmaster. Zi-Ping Wang is remembered to this day for incredible feats of strength, patriotism, morality, and martial skill. In addition to feats of strength and fighting prowess, Wang was known as a compassionate doctor of Chinese medicine. Wang was born into a family of martial artists, a family that is still active today. His daughter, Ju-rong Wang, became the very first female professor of martial arts in China and developed the beautiful Flying Rainbow Fan forms. Her daughters have carried on the tradition; the eldest, Helen (Xiao-rong) Wu is a world-class Wushu master in Toronto, Canada. I came to know her, and the story of her family, through my son, who has been her private student for five years.

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