Friends of SFPL Happy Hour Book Club: Sherry Thompson's The Kreminologist

Happy Hour Authors Club
All Friends members are invited to join us for book discussions with the authors at the Bourbon Grill at El Gancho in our Happy Hour Authors Club. Enjoy drinks and hors d’oeuvres at Happy Hour discount prices during the informal author introduction and free-ranging conversation. Bring your thoughts, opinions, and your questions for the author.
Cost: FREE benefit for Friends members; non-members may purchase memberships at the door
Time: 5:00–6:30 PM (Doors open at 4:30 PM for drink & hors d’oeuvres orders.)
Location: 104 Old Las Vegas Hwy, Santa Fe, NM 87505

Thursday, August 22, 2019Sherry Thompson will lead a discussion on The Kreminologist
Free Required Ticket Reservation (for Friends members only)
Against the sprawling backdrop of the Cold War, The Kremlinologist revisits some of the twentieth century’s greatest conflicts as seen through the eyes of its hardest working diplomat, Llewellyn E Thompson. From the wilds of the American West to the inner sanctums of the White House and the Kremlin, Thompson became an important advisor to presidents and a key participant in major global events, including the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam War. Thompson’s daughters Jenny and Sherry Thompson skillfully and thoroughly document his life as an accomplished career diplomat. In vigorous prose, they describe how Thompson joined the Foreign Service both to feed his desire for adventure and from a deep sense of duty. They also detail the crucial role he played as a negotiator unafraid of compromise. Known in the State Department as "Mr. Tightlips," Thompson was the epitome of discretion. People from completely opposite ends of the political spectrum lauded his approach to diplomacy and claimed him as their own. Refuting historical misinterpretations of the Berlin Crisis, the Austrian State Treaty, and the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Thompsons tell their father’s fascinating story. With unprecedented access to Thompson’s FBI dossier, State Department personnel files, letters, diaries, speeches, and documents, and relying on probing interviews and generous assistance from American and Russian archivists, historians, and government officials, the authors bring new material to light, including important information on the U-2, Kennan’s containment policy, and Thompson’s role in US covert operations machinery.