VJ Books presents Peter Schechter!

Peter Schechter

Schechter is founding partner of Chlopak, Leonard, Schechter and Associates (CLS), a company which advises politicians, companies, non-profits and international organizations. He created CLS in 1992 with colleagues Bob Chlopak and Charlie Leonard after a decade on Capitol Hill and with the Sawyer Miller Group, a New York consulting firm.

Schechter has served as principal election advisor in nearly every country in Latin America, including work for President Álvaro Uribe (his fourth Presidential client in Colombia), President Fernando Henrique Cardoso in Brazil, and President Ernesto Zedillo in Mexico. His clients are wide-ranging, from wine-making regions like Champagne, Port and Sherry seeking protection from name infringements in the US to Hunt Oil’s Camisea project in Peru.

Fluent in six languages, he is a frequent political commentator for Univision and Telemundo, the nation’s two largest Spanish language television networks. Apart from his work, Schechter is also a Virginia goat farmer, a co-owner and board member with superstar chef Jose Andres of five successful Washington restaurants (including prize-winning Jaleo and Zaytinya), a co-proprietor of Agur Winery in Israel, and an critically acclaimed author.

Schechter published his first novel, Point of Entry, in 2006. The Washington Post called it “fast moving”, The Chicago Tribune said it is “as good as this kind of writing gets.” The St. Louis Post Dispatch said the plot is “why-didn’t I think-of-that-clever.”. Newsweek called it “a rip-roaring novel about terrorism, nuclear plots and presidential dating.” The Boston Globe declared it “entertaining.”

His second book, Pipeline, will be published in early 2009.

Peter Schechter lives in Georgetown, Washington, D.C., with his Spanish wife Rosa and two daughters Alia and Marina.