Robert Jan Mrazek (born November 6, 1945) is an American author, filmmaker, and former politician. He served as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, representing New York's 3rd congressional district on Long Island for most of the 1980s. Since leaving Congress, Mrazek has authored twelve books, earning the American Library Association's top honor for military fiction, the Michael Shaara award for Civil War fiction, and Best Book (American History) from the Washington Post. He also wrote and co-directed the 2016 feature film The Congressman, which received the Breakout Achievement Award at the AARP's Film Awards in 2017. Biography Mrazek was born in Newport to Harold Richard Mrazek (1919-2008) and Blanche Rose [née Slezak] (1915-2007), both of Czech descent. Blanche's maternal grandmother Anna Svašková (1862-1946) was born in Strážovice. Robert grew up in Huntington, New York. He graduated from Cornell University in 1967 with a major in political science, then attended the London Film School in 1968. He joined the United States Navy in 1967 to serve in the Vietnam War, but was disabled by a training injury at Officer Candidate School in Newport. After a period of hospitalization with wounded Marines, he turned against the war. After his 1968 discharge, he was an aide to U.S. Senator Vance Hartke (1969–1971). In 1993, he became the founding chairman of the Alaska Wilderness League, an organization dedicated to protecting Alaska's wild lands. He still serves as Honorary Chair with former President Jimmy Carter. In the mid-1990s he was one of the co-founders of the United Baseball League (UBL) which was a planned third major league. Politics Elected service He was elected to the Suffolk County Legislature, 1975–1982 and became its minority leader. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1980, 1988, and 1992. Democrat Mrazek was first elected in 1982 to the 98th United States Congress, defeating John LeBoutillier, a one-term Conservative Republican Congressman in the 3rd district. (The districts had been redrawn to reflect the 1980 U.S. Census.) Mrazek served in the United States House of Representatives from 1983 until he retired in 1993. Freshman members usually do not sit on the House Appropriations Committee, but Mrazek persuaded Speaker of the House of Representatives Tip O'Neill to make an exception for him. After being elected to his fifth term in Congress, Mrazek announced that he would not stand for re-election, choosing instead to explore