A young girl's China, 1920s: swimming in Paradise Pools, hiking to the Cave of the Immortals, sharing a Sunday sidewalk with Chiang Kai-shek and Madame Chiang. Mary's life seemed charmed. But elements of danger were never far from home, with hazardous travel, deadly bandits, conflicts between armies and rumblings of war. Child of Two Countries: My China Legacy is a collection of true-life adventures, thrilling and humorous tales and touching remembrances of Mary Beck Ecker. From her birth in China in 1917 to her ocean voyage on a Norwegian freighter at 19 to attend college in the U.S., Mary's story captures a rare and magical time on two continents between the two world wars. Born of missionary parents Edwin and Irene Beck, Mary's first home was Lakeside missionary compound in the lush Yangtze River Valley. With her twin brother Bob, her mother and older brothers Jim and John, she spent summers in the enchanting Lushan mountain resort community of Kuling. Furloughs to the U.S. provided contrast to China life, with modern fashions, the introduction of radio and popular entertainment, the freedom of automobiles, passenger train journeys and characters like her 90-year old Colorado cowboy neighbor who shot his pistol off the back steps.

Mary Beck Ecker was born in Yochow, China in 1917 to missionary parents Edwin and Irene Beck and lived with her twin brother, Bob, older brothers Jim and John, and beloved Amah. In 1936, she left China for the last time to attend Ohio's Heidelberg College and then moved to Illinois, where she still resides. She is the author of numerous short stories, magazine articles and a youth novel, "Tai Lee's Precious Seed", published in 1948. Married the same year to Paul L. Ecker, Mary's career path has included work as a teacher, writer, antiques dealer, and mother of three daughters: Paula, Sarah and Patricia, and son Christopher. Sarah Ecker Marquis is Mary's daughter and a media and communications specialist. Raised in Illinois, Sarah graduated from Florida State University and currently resides in California.