List of Minor Blandings Characters - James Schoonmaker

James Schoonmaker

An American, Schoonmaker was in his youth a sporting man, an All-American footballer, and an old crony of Gally (although he referred to him as "Johnny"), who mixed the finest Mint Julep in America. He also knew Uncle Fred before that worthy's ascension to Earldom, at which time Schoonmaker was a junior member of a Wall Street firm. By the time we hear of him, he has succeeded in business and made a considerable fortune, and become a large and impressive gentleman, with what the Duke of Dunstable describes as a "head like a Spanish onion", interrupted by tortoiseshell glasses.

In Service With a Smile, he has already become the object of Lady Constance's affections, and is called to Blandings when Connie discovers that his daughter Myra is in danger of marrying a curate. With help from G. Ovens' miraculous ale, he reveals to his old friend Uncle Fred that he admires Connie, but considers himself unworthy of her; Fred's encouragement, and Connie's distress at seeing Myra and Bill Bailey elope together, help him screw up his courage, and the two are married in New York, at the start of Galahad at Blandings.