Swift, Will 1947–

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Swift, Will 1947–

PERSONAL: Born 1947. Education: University of Texas, Ph.D., 1973.

ADDRESSES: Home—Manhattan, NY; and Valatie, NY. Office—311 East 72nd St., No. 1G, New York, NY 10021. Agent—Judith Riven, Riven Literary Productions, 250 W. 16th St., No. 4F, New York, NY 10011. E-mail—will@willswift.com.

CAREER: Clinical psychologist, specializing in cognitive and marital therapy, New York, NY, 1978–. Founder of Royalty Bookshop and Sceptre (journal on royal history and collecting). Curator of several museum exhibitions on royal history.

MEMBER: Royal Commemorative Association of North America (founder).

WRITINGS:

The Roosevelts and the Royals: Franklin and Eleanor, the King and Queen of England, and the Friendship That Changed History, John Wiley (Hoboken, NJ), 2004.

Contributor to Majesty and Royal Report.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Prelude to Camelot: The Kennedys and the Remarkable London Circle, 1938–1940, a book detailing Joseph Kennedy's ambassadorship from 1938 to 1940.

SIDELIGHTS: Will Swift is a psychologist and writer who is an expert on the British monarchy. His book The Roosevelts and the Royals: Franklin and Eleanor, the King and Queen of England, and the Friendship That Changed History had its origins in an article he wrote for Majesty magazine on the relationships between American presidents and British monarchs. In the archives of the Franklin Roosevelt library in Hyde Park, New York, Swift found a large body of correspondence related to a state visit made by the king and queen of England in 1939 to President Roosevelt's home at Hyde Park and to Washington, DC. Swift became fascinated with this complex relationship, which was particularly significant because the world was immersed in war at that time. The British military knew that in order to defeat Nazi Germany, they would need help from American forces, and the British government carefully crafted a plan for winning U.S. support. Swift's research continued in the Royal Archives of Windsor Castle, where he found additional information on the important connection between the royal family and the Roosevelts.

The Roosevelts and the Royals details young Franklin Roosevelt's early meetings with English nobles and builds to the historic 1939 visit, where the First Family served the royals hot dogs at one of the most famous picnics in history. Gilbert Taylor, writing for Booklist, stated that much of the material in the book falls under the category of "historical minutiae," but he added that it "strikes an undeniably popular chord of interest."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, July, 2004, Gilbert Taylor, review of The Roosevelts and the Royals: Franklin and Eleanor, the King and Queen of England, and the Friendship That Changed History, p. 1814.

Campaigns & Elections, February, 2005, Ron Faucheux, review of The Roosevelts and the Royals, p. 46.

Library Journal, July, 2004, William D. Pederson, review of The Roosevelts and the Royals, p. 99.

Publishers Weekly, May 31, 2004, review of The Roosevelts and the Royals, p. 63.