James W . Spain James W . Spain ( July 22 , 1926 – January 2 , 2008 ) was in the US Foreign Service with postings in Karachi , Islamabad , Istanbul , Ankara , Dar Es Salaam , and Colombo and four ambassadorships in Tanzania , Turkey , the United Nations ( as deputy permanent representative ) , and Sri Lanka . His son is Patrick Spain , founder of Hoover ' s and HighBeam Research . Biography . Ambassador Spain was born in 1926 in Chicago , Illinois , where he attended St Brendan ' s Parochial School and Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary where his classmates included priest / author Andrew Greeley and “ Vatican Banker ” Paul Marcinkus . He received a Masters Degree from the University of Chicago and a PhD from Columbia University . Ambassador Spain served in World War II , for a time serving on General Douglas MacArthur ' s staff as a photographer in occupied Japan . He entered the Foreign Service in 1951 , and spent the entirety of his career in government service . His assignments took him to Pakistan , Turkey , Tanzania , the UN , and Sri Lanka . His first post was as Vice Consul in Karachi in 1951 . Following that he returned the U . S . where he lived , mostly in Washington , DC , until 1969 . He was appointed as Chargé d ' Affaires to Pakistan in 1969 , Consul General in Istanbul from 1970 – 1972 , Deputy Chief of Mission in Ankara ( 1972 – 1974 ) , Ambassador to Tanzania ( 1975 – 1979 ) and Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations under Andrew Young briefly in 1979 , Ambassador to Turkey from 1980 – 1981 , and finally as Ambassador to Sri Lanka from 1985 - 1988 . He retired a Career Minister in the Foreign Service and remained in Sri Lanka until 2006 , when he returned to the United States , settling in Wilmington , NC . He was the author of numerous books , including In Those Days , American Diplomacy in Turkey , The Way of the Pathans , Pathans of the Latter Day , and a series of novels featuring Dodo Dillon . He contributed articles on foreign affairs to a variety of publications . Ambassador Spain lived a distinguished life of service to his country and dedication to his friends and family . He was a remarkably able diplomat who drew on his own odyssey from an impoverished youth on the South Side of Chicago – the son of a streetcar conductor and a seamstress who were Irish immigrants – to attending receptions with Presidents and Prime Ministers to inspire those around him to seek the best for themselves and their country . He met adversity with strength , rudeness with grace , and challenges with enthusiasm . He played pivotal roles in maintaining and strengthening the United States alliance with Turkey , in bringing about a peaceful transition to majority rule in Zimbabwe , and strengthening the United States ' relations with all the countries of the subcontinent . He was most proud not of the headlines that he had a part in , but of the headlines that never had to be written , thanks to his work defusing tensions between nations . One of his earliest memories of Chicago was being taken by his father to watch Al Capone walk through City Hall . His glimpse of the legendary gangster impressed many , among them Jawaharlal Nehru , the first prime minister of India , who once held up a reception line just to hear about it . James W . Spain , 81 , died on January 2 , 2008 of natural causes in Wilmington , NC . He was preceded in death by his wife Edith and daughter Sikandra . He is survived by his sons , Patrick Spain , Stephen and William and his grandchildren , Jeanne , James , Aidan , Katherine , and Rachel . Publications . He authored a number of books . " In Those Days : A Diplomat Remembers " is his autobiography , a memoir of his time as an American diplomat who spent most of his life in Asia and Africa , engaged in high - level diplomacy . He is also the author of " The Pathan Borderland " ; " People of the Khyber " ; " Pathans of the Latter Day " ; " American Diplomacy in Turkey " and " The way of the Pathans " .