A Sunday afternoon phone call from President-elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt signaled one of many changes to the life of Rev. John Knox Kerr. Would he be known as a celebrated pastor or a counselor to the most powerful man on the planet? Or merely as a man who could not decide which woman he wanted most: mother or daughter?

LIFE HIGHLIGHTS
Born: Edinburgh, Scotland, 1896
Occupation: Pastor; Deputy Secretary of State for Communication
Challenge: Power, passion, purpose
Quote: “I thought, against what seemed like great odds against us, that you and I could be lovers. Not tawdry or illicit, but married and legitimately able to express the depths of our passion.”

FDR, as most referred to him, was the dominate personality of the 1930s and his role in Second Thoughts is riveted with power but, nonetheless, full of grace toward John, Elizabeth, and Julia. His relationship with his wife, Eleanor, is not so happily described. His global leadership grows even as Adolf Hitler is obsessed with replacing American influence with an iron-fisted Third Reich.

LIFE HIGHLIGHTS
Born: Hyde Park, New York 30 January 1882
Occupation: President-Elect/President, United States of America
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.”

The sometimes rebellious daughter 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.

LIFE HIGHLIGHTS
Born: New York City, 1 April 1903
Occupation: Editor, Pharos Books
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.”

Widowed when Stephen Fairchild died in an automobile accident, Julia enters the 1930s conflicted. Are her feelings for John Knox Kerr platonic or passionate? Will her relationship with her only child, Elizabeth, blossom or remain closed and distant? Or will she settle for a marriage of convenience with Harold Vandermeer? As the decade unfolds life becomes increasingly complex for Julia … and all who live under the roof of her magnificent Providence Place.

LIFE HIGHLIGHTS
Born: Boston, Massachusetts, 10 August 1880
Occupation: Adams Family Scion, Person of Influence
Challenge: Finding happiness in a marriage of convenience while living up to the expectations of society and the church.
Quote: “That, John, sums up both issues we’ve been discussing very nicely: ‘good Christian people’ do not know how to talk about sex – even though it is clearly a gift of God and essential to life. But neither do they know how to be intimate in thought and conversation. In both categories, intimacy and sexuality, I am afraid the Church has taken its people hostage in a dark cave, daring them to move toward the light in both matters.”

Harold considered his successful pursuit of Julia Adams one of the greatest achievements of his life. His twilight years are focused on family, golf, and philanthropy. While his personality is best described as bland, he has lived a life of consequence and grace.

LIFE HIGHLIGHTS
Born: New York City, 17 July 1854
Occupation: Retired owner of a group of men's wear stores that he sold to Brooks Brothers for a tidy sum.
Challenge: To enjoy the last years of a life devoted to work and duty.
Quote: “Thank you, Reverend Kerr, for being here. I am not going to make it. I know that. Do not misunderstand me, I am not one to give up, but I do know when the odds are against me. This is quintessentially one of those times.”

A self-made man, Zack Turpyn is the owner of a major construction company. Among his triumphs: the Empire State Building. Hard-driving, punctual, insensitive, and controlling, Zack Turpyn wields inordinate power, not just in the construction business, but also as the chairman of the board (session) at Park Avenue Presbyterian Church. He is not beloved.

LIFE HIGHLIGHTS
Born: Chicago, Illinois, 1 April 1873
Occupation: Owner, Granite Construction Company; Chairman, Park Avenue Presbyterian Church Session
Challenges: An insatiable quest for power and notoriety, a beautiful trophy wife who detests him, and workers who hold him in contempt.
Quote: “I have it on good authority that you, Mr. Kerr, had something to do with the socialist spectacle that our new President put on last evening.”

Beautiful, brilliant, and abused. Veronica Turpyn is trapped in a world she resents and fears. Would she escape if given a chance? Or is she a simply co-dependent person who, despite the abuses, is willing to stay in a dysfunctional marriage? Is it her fault, or is the church to blame? Those appear to be the only options, as her husband is excused, feared, and revered all at once.

LIFE HIGHLIGHTS
Born: Charleston, South Carolina, 14 July 1897
Occupation: Trophy wife of Zack Turpyn
Challenges: A controlling, abusive husband, her own brilliant mind, and a physical appearance which brought her access to wealth but no happiness.
Quote: “All the men I know want something from me – if you know what I mean – and give little to nothing in return.”

A trained, veteran nurse, Miss Satterhelfer quickly comes to be regarded as a gift of God’s grace to Providence Place and its guests. Calm, efficient, and Germanic, Nurse Satterhelfer inspires confidence and quickly earns a person’s trust. She is, Julia notes, “an angel in simple shoes.”

LIFE HIGHLIGHTS
Born: Kleindeutschland, New York, 15 August 1882
Occupation: Nurse
Challenge: To keep up with the growing need for care by friends and family at Providence Place.
Quote: “He [John Adams Kerr] is a sweet baby who is quick to respond to a caring touch and a softly-sung song. I must confess that I cannot recall enjoying an assignment as much as I am savoring this one.”

Eleanor is the first presidential spouse to hold regular press conferences, write a daily newspaper column, write a monthly magazine column, host a weekly radio show, and speak at a national party convention. On a few occasions, she will publicly disagree with her husband's policies. She advocates for expanded roles for women in the workplace.

LIFE HIGHLIGHTS
Born: New York City, 11 October 1884
Occupation: Wife of President-Elect/President of the United States
Challenge: To carve out her own life despite her dislike of Washington, politics, and her husband.
Quote: “People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously. This is how character is built.”

The firstborn child of John and Elizabeth Kerr, is known by his initials, JAK. He was born into privilege, with equal doses of high achievement and high society in store for him. An active boy, JAK is creative and inventive.

LIFE HIGHLIGHTS
Born: New York City, 7 December 1933
Status: Little boy, the firstborn of John and Elizabeth Kerr
Challenges: Growing up without the close presence or guidance of his father and mother.
Quote: “I saw JAK gazing around the room, face beaming, and, amazingly, not a bit bored.” (spoken by his father, John Knox Kerr)

Abigail makes her appearance near the end of Second Thoughts. She is the second child of John Knox Kerr and Elizabeth Fairchild Kerr.

LIFE HIGHLIGHTS
Born: New York City, 4 July 1937 Occupation: Baby girl
Challenges: Growing up without a mother.
Quote: “Abigail was beautiful, her closed eyes highlighted by elegant, dainty eyelashes. Her cheeks were full of color, her arms and legs the picture of completeness. Her yawns alone melted me.” (spoken by her father, John Knox Kerr)

Reggie Howen – a Brit equipped with a quick tongue, sharp sarcasm, and a boundless sense of humor – honed his skills in the principles of effective radio communication while at the BBC. Recruited by Louis Howe to help in the first presidential campaign of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Reggie’s seconding was extended indefinitely, allowing him to serve on FDR’s White House team for what would become four terms.

LIFE HIGHLIGHTS
Born: Hastings, East Sussex, England, 31 October 1895
Occupation: Radio consultant on loan from the BBC to President Roosevelt
Challenges: Impatience with his American colleagues; keeping his remarkable sense of humor in check; womanizing.
Quote: “Well, speaking for forebears, family heritage and all that, I think it important you know that my third cousin, twice removed, was, for a brief time, official snuff provider to the Crown.”

Pastor Wagner’s steady mood, warm smile, and rock sold faith underpin his role as John Knox Kerr’s spiritual adivsor. John trusts him fully, even when his counsel turns painful. They become good friends in rather unusual circumstances which both men come to see as divine appointments. Pastor Wagner is now in his 70s and his health is beginning to fail.

LIFE HIGHLIGHTS
Born: Fredericksburg, Texas, 12 May 1860
Occupation: Retired pastor; spiritual director for John Knox Kerr
Challenge: To provide godly perspective to John Knox Kerr
Quote: “John, I hope you will take this in the spirit in which it is intended, because I am quite concerned for you.”

Whilte a post-doctoral student at Manhattan Divinity School, Hans often attends Park Avenue Presbyterian Church. He introduces himself to Pastor John Knox Kerr and their friendship steadily grows. They will become very close friends, despite the challenges of Nazi Germany.

LIFE HIGHLIGHTS
Born: Breslau, Kingdom of Prussia, 4 February 1906
Occupation: Post-doctoral heology student; leader of the Sacramental Church in Germany
Challenge: The spritiual and moral offenses of Adolf Hitler
Quote: “When God opens our eyes for His Word, we see into a world of miracles.”

Despite humble roots in the hardscrabble tenaments of Brooklyn, Fred Dobbs has become the elegant, if not stern, master of Providence Place. A domestic in the tradition of Charles Carson, the butler of the fictional Downton Abbey, Dobbs exudes even less warmth. He is fiercely loyal to Julia Adams and, even though sometimes critical of her liasons with John, will not abide criticism of her.

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 apologize for the dueling sauces, but Robert was not his usual self when he planned the menu. He was, you know, quite fond of Mr. Vandermeer.”

A remarkably gifted chef, Robert is a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. After serving briefly as sous chef for the legendary Auguste Escoffier, he was wooed to America by Julia Fairchild to serve as chef de la maison at Providence Place. His cooking continues to evolve and expand during the post-Prohibition years of the 1930s.

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: “As to the meal, Robert, the extraordinarily gifted Providence Place chef, had prepared a traditional American feast with untraditional flair. His roasted turkey was tender, moist, and flavorful; the ham offered just the right touch of hickory; the potatoes, fresh vegetables, dinner rolls, and assorted garnishes made it a most memorable feast. I think it fair to say that the more modest culinary traditions of my German friends had their boundaries tested considerably.” (spoken by John Knox Kerr)

Most people in Washington think she is a man. Using her initials (JEFF) to cruise past the male-dominated power structure of the 1930s, this brilliant daughter of one of the most influential designers in naval history, rises to every challenge. Wonderful with children but not quite as sure of herself in matters romantic, JEFF/Lis brings an entirely new dimension to The Kerr Chronicles.

LIFE HIGHLIGHTS
Born: Berlin, Germany, 14 July 1902
Occupation: War Department Researcher
Challenges: The male-dominated power elite in Washington and intimate personal relationships.
Quote: “My father used to sail with Mr. Roosevelt, and we would stay at Campobello. I tagged along, a little girl wanting to learn to sail with the two men I most admired in all the world.”