Mark Frost w/ Harley Peyton, THE YANKEE SPHINX

Mark Frost, cocreator of Twin Peaks, visits the store to discuss his new work of historical fiction, The Yankee Sphinx, a novel about one of FDR’s closest wartime advisers and the president’s final days, inspired by the author’s own family. Frost is joined by Harley Peyton, fellow Twin Peaks writer and producer.

In 1934, Will Hassett is working as a journalist when he gets a call from an old friend who now works at the White House. He arrives expecting to catch up on old times but is instead brought right into the Oval Office to meet with Franklin D. Roosevelt. FDR needs help on his speeches; Will takes the job on the spot. For the next twelve years, Will is at FDR’s side through the worst of the Depression, three reelection campaigns, and World War II.

The Yankee Sphinx, inspired by Will Hassett’s real diaries, focuses on the last few years of FDR’s life. The war is raging in Europe and FDR’s good friend, Winston Churchill, begs for America’s help. But Roosevelt knows he can’t bring the country in until it’s ready, an opportunity that won’t arise until the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor in 1941.

From Will’s empathetic perspective, we witness FDR managing the Allied military campaign abroad and parrying shots from isolationist politicians at home—all while reckoning with his rapidly deteriorating health. Will and Anna, Roosevelt's daughter, plot an intervention to get him a doctor more up to speed on a new discipline called “cardiology” so the president can maintain his strength and end the war.

Elegantly written, bursting with personality, and perfectly capturing life in wartime Washington, The Yankee Sphinx is a marvelous work by one of our most versatile writers.

Mark Frost is an American novelist, screenwriter, director and film producer, best known as a writer for the television series Hill Street Blues and as the co-creator of the television series Twin Peaks.

Harley Peyton is a writer/producer with a long and varied career in movies and television. Peyton’s first screen credit was an adaptation of the novel Less Than Zero followed by a number of other movie projects, including Heaven’s Prisoners (starring Alec Baldwin), Keys to Tulsa (starring James Spader), Bandits (directed by Barry Levinson) and Friends With Benefits (starring Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis). Peyton’s first television experience was as a writer/producer on the iconic series Twin Peaks (ABC). He received an Emmy nomination and a Golden Globe for his contributions. Other television credits include Moon Over Miami (ABC), Route 66 (NBC), Dracula (NBC), The Bronx is Burning (ESPN), Wedding Band (TBS), Dominion (SyFY), Reign (The CW), Channel Zero (SyFy), Project Blue Book (History Channel), Chucky (SyFy), and most recently, Reginald The Vampire (SyFy, Hulu). Unproduced feature projects include Thomas Crown Affair II (MGM for Pierce Brosnan), Welcome Back, Kotter (The Weinstein Co., for Ice Cube) and The Friday Night Knitting Club (Universal, for Julia Roberts). Produced and unproduced television pilot projects include Three Inches (SyFy) and The Woods (ABC, for Ridley Scott and Cirque du Soleil).

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