The person at the center of The Kerr Chronicles is John Knox Kerr, a native of Scotland who is transplanted to New York City. After contrasting years in the trenches of World War I’s Western Front and top-of-class academic performance at New College, Edinburgh, his idealism and hopes have been rekindled. His God-given talents face a dominating senior pastor and a beguiling pair of women: mother and daughter. First Sight explores John's inner struggles amid great opportunities for good … and not so good.

LIFE HIGHLIGHTS
Born: Leeds, England, 10 September 1895
Occupation: Pastor
Challenge: To be God’s man while struggling for form healthy relationships and make peace with powerful people.
Quote: “I have almost no idea how I will stay on the right path given the enormous weight on my shoulders and the tendency for my feet to meld with the clay beneath them.”

A direct descendant of John and Abigail Adams, Julia has been pursued and envied by men and women her entire life. Despite a distant husband and rebellioius daughter, she remains grounded, firm in a faith that anchors her through every season of life. Deferred gratification is her hallmark, but passion and desire are sometimes revealed, despite her demure exterior and calm demeanor.

LIFE HIGHLIGHTS
Born: Boston, Massachusetts, August 10 1880
Occupation: Adams Family Scion, Leader, Teacher
Challenge: Finding happiness in a loveless marriage while living up to the expectations of society and the church.
Quote: “Why, Mr. Kerr, I wouldn’t play with you. I’m serious, of course.”

The often rebellious daugher of Stephen and Julia Fairchild, Elizabeth is brilliant and beautiful – and knows it. Jealous of her mother, Elizabeth keeps the Providence Place tensions high while embarking on a promising career of her own. She is, to all, a series of compelling contradictions, at once accusing and then fawning, Elizabeth is an enigma.

LIFE HIGHLIGHTS
Born: New York City, 1 April 1903
Occupation: Student at Smith College and then Radcliffe for graduate studies
Challenge: Avoiding the temptation to fall back on her beauty, social standing, and charm rather than to be an independent strong woman; overcoming her parents’ failed relationship.
Quote: “Mr. Wilder is only 30, frighteningly good looking, and, if I may say so, couldn’t keep his eyes off of me.”

The grandson of a failed member of Parliament who escaped to New York to restart his life, Stephen Fairchild inherited a garment manufacturing company, but chose instead to pursue his dreams of building the world’s most elegant motor car. To that end he establishes the Fairchild Motor Car Company and abandons his wife and daughter to his ambitions.

LIFE HIGHLIGHTS
Born: New York City, 1 April 1878
Occupation: Founder & President, Fairchild Motor Car Company
Challenge: Living responsibly. Content to pursue sometimes selfish dreams on his wife’s money, Stephen lives a romantic’s life in the guise of a businessman.
Quote: “My wife is simply not needy like my daughter – quite the contrary – Julia is entirely self-sufficient!”

A celebrated orator and Bible teacher, Dr. MacGregor’s fame is accompanied by a full measure of Jekyll and Hyde. While his preaching and teaching is both orthodox and compelling, his behavior is mercurial at best. Given to fits of depression, MacGregor lashes back at his foes will full fury. Only wealthy parishioners escape the punishment of this enigmatic narcissist, yet few can resist his charm when a Bible is in his hands.

LIFE HIGHLIGHTS
Born: Edinburgh, Scotland, 25 January 1855
Occupation: Pastor, Park Avenue Presbyterian Church
Challenge: Consistency. A gifted preacher of the old school, Dr. MacGregor knew how to command an audience; unfortunately he was far less skilled at commanding his own mercurial behavior.
Quote: “I must tell you directly that after some reflection, I am now not at all sure you are the right man for the job.” (said to John Knox Kerr)

A German immigrant driven to make and flaunt money – no matter what it took to gain – he strives for respectability despite his shadowy business dealings. Accustomed to having his way, Funderbirk uses money to control the behavior of his respectable accolytes, including Dr. Robert Burns MacGregor. When he leverages his money in a power play to stop construction of the chapel, his machinations are twarted by a godly and seemingly powerless woman.

LIFE HIGHLIGHTS
Born: Berlin, Germany, 25 October 1868
Occupation: Importer of Essential Goods (a bootlegger)
Challenge: To gain respect despite his questionable business and ethics, which lurked in the shadows of New York City, he changes his name to Funderbirk (English) from his real name, Funderberg (German).
Quote: “Funderbirk has worked in the shadows so long that it seems at times like he rules the darkness in this city.” (spoken by John Knox Kerr)

A man of impeccible credentials, Maxwell Smith is successful, wise, and generous. His contributions to Park Avenue Presbyterian Church have been monumental, even for that distinguished congregation. A bachelor, Mr. Smith works long hours at his eponymous firm, but is never unwilling to take on a new assignment in the financial community or the church. Despite his winsome traits, he has no close friends, though many are more than willing to benefit from his generosity.

LIFE HIGHLIGHTS
Born: London, England, 15 March 1872
Occupation: Principal, Smith, Tillinghast & Company
Challenge: To serve God and his financial clients as a committed lay leader at Park Avenue Presbyterian Church while struggling with personal relationships.
Quote: “Robert MacGregor has become one of my dearest friends. It is an unlikely friendship – he a prominent man of the cloth, me a seat holder on the New York Exchange – but it has been a most uplifting one.”

Reverend Martin Luther Wagner, raised in the hill country of Texas, studied divinity at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. A vicarage on Long Island introduced him to what would become his adopted home. In the early years of his pastorate his congregants were largely farmers, though they also included a dollop of shopkeepers. But the turn of the century brought new affluence to the fields and shores of Long Island, and the congregational profile began to change. By the 1920s it was a mix of rural and citified gentry – especially in summertime. After losing his wife to the flu pandemic of 1918, Wagner pastored another seven years, and then took retirement. By the summer of 1927, when John Knox Kerr meets him, Pastor Wagner’s mood is steady, his smile warm and easy, and his faith rock solid. He quietly but swiftly demonstrates that he can be trusted.

LIFE HIGHLIGHTS
Born: Fredericksburg, Texas, 12 May 1860
Occupation: Retired pastor; spiritual director
Challenge: To provide godly perspective to John Knox Kerr
Quote: “Slow down, John, slow down. I’m in no hurry and your sprinting through matters that require a much slower pace. You are dealing with matters of the heart, and your particular issues have more than a little to do with the values you’ve been espousing as a man of the cloth. This is going to take some hard work on your part to keep looking the issue straight on.”

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) was born in Hyde Park, New York, to a Dutch-American family made well known by Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States. FDR attended Groton School, Harvard College, and Columbia Law School, and went on to practice law in New York City. In 1905, he married his fifth cousin once removed, Eleanor Roosevelt. They had six children, of whom five survived into adulthood. He won election to the New York State Senate in 1910, and then served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President Woodrow Wilson during World War I. In 1921, Roosevelt contracted a paralytic illness, believed at the time to be polio. In spite of being unable to walk unaided, Roosevelt returned to public office by winning election as Governor of New York in 1928. He was in office from 1929 to 1933 and served as a reform Governor, promoting programs to combat the economic crisis besetting the United States at the time.

LIFE HIGHLIGHTS
Born: Hyde Park, New York 30 January 1882
Occupation: Governor, New York State
Challenge: To live up to the expectations of his mother, Sara, and the Roosevelt family name while exploring political ambitions.
Quote: “A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned how to walk forward.”

A favorite niece of President Theodore Roosevelt, her marriage to her fifth cousin once removed, Franklin, proved to be more than challenging. After producing six children she stopped sharing a bed with her husband’s bed upon discovering his affair with her personal secretary, Lucy Mercer.

LIFE HIGHLIGHTS
Born: New York City, 11 October 1884
Occupation: Wife of Governor, New York State
Challenge: To carve out her own life despite her overbearing mother-in-law, Sara, and her philandering husband, Franklin.
Quote: “My uncle was a little rough around the edges. But, I assure you, Teddy Bears were most appropriately named after him. I personally found the dear man wonderfully supportive and kind.”

After working as a reporter for The New York Times, Perkins joined the publishing house of Charles Scribner's Sons in 1910. At that time, Scribner's was known for publishing older authors such as John Galsworthy, Henry James, and Edith Wharton. However, Perkins wished to publish younger writers. Unlike most editors, he actively sought out promising new artists; he made his first big find in 1919 when he signed F. Scott Fitzgerald. He later added Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Wolfe, J.P. Marquand, and Erskine Caldwell.

LIFE HIGHLIGHTS
Born: New York City, 20 September 1884
Occupation: Book Editor, Charles Scribner’s Sons
Challenge: To rein in the giant egos of the leading fiction writers of the first half of the twentieth century.
Quote: “Whenever any of these new writers come up who are brilliant, I always realize that you have more talent and more skill than any of them;---but circumstances have prevented you from realizing upon the fact for a long time.” (written to F. Scott Fitzgerald)

Dobbs, the Providence Place butler, is dedicated, efficient, and utterly devoid of interpersonal niceties. His loyalty to Julia is unshakable, though he is no fan of the time she spends with John behind closed library doors.

LIFE HIGHLIGHTS
Born: Brooklyn, New York, 23 October 1880
Occupation: Butler, Providence Place
Challenge: To find grace amid the seriousness of his duites in service.
Quote: “I shall do some long overdue shopping in preparation for the Thanksgiving décor and for Christmas season accoutrements.”

A remarkably gifted chef, Robert is a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. After serving briefly as Sous-Chef de cuisine for the legendary Auguste Escoffier, he was wooed to America by Julia Fairchild to serve as chef de la maison at Providence Place.

LIFE HIGHLIGHTS
Born: Paris, France, 7 May 1890
Occupation: Chef de la Maison, Providence Place
Challenge: To be content within the confines of Providence Place when his skills qualified him for even more.
Quote: “I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve asked Robert to prepare us a celebratory dinner” (spoken by Elizabeth Fairchild)

A reserved but kind scion of an historic New York Dutch family, Harold Vandermeer, was notworthy for combining the two words of his surname (Vander Meer) and for leveraging the success of his business into a career of quiet philanthropy. A devoted patron of the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, what he lacked in looks and charm he made up for with kindness and generosity. His pursuit of Julia Adams was, by all measure, the most passionate quest of his life.

LIFE HIGHLIGHTS
Born: New York City, 17 July 1854
Occupation: Retired Owner, Knickerbocker Men’s Wear
Challenge: To find love and joy in the last years of a life devoted to work and duty.
Quote: “You can’t be serious. Harold Vandermeer proposed marriage to you?” (spoken by John Knox Kerr)