This article started with a prompt by fellow Bookhouse Boy and talented musician Daniel Knox (known for “Half Heart: Songs from Twin Peaks”). He asked on Twitter if anyone had a high-resolution image of the cover to “Diane … The TWIN PEAKS Tapes of AGENT COOPER.” Down the rabbit hole I went and ended up writing the definitive history of this unique audio book based on the show’s most famous Special Agent.
KEN “CAMP COUNSELOR” SCHERER
To tell the story of the first Twin Peaks tapes audio cassette, we need to start with Ken Scherer.
Nicknamed the “Camp Counselor” by David Lynch, Mr. Scherer was hired by Lynch/Frost Productions around May 1990 as their chief operating officer (COO). At the time, Scherer was working at AFI and got to know Mark Frost. He was ready for a change and wanted to try his hand at producing. Being hired as COO gave him a foot in the door into that world.
Following the success of the Pilot Episode and first season, Frost and Lynch needed ways to continue financing the show. ABC Television licensed the show from Lynch/Frost Productions, but it was Lynch and Frost who were funding it (in the early 1990s this was an anomaly in television world).
Scherer told the Deer Meadow Radio podcast on September 22, 2016 that “merchandising was critical to make the kind of show that David and Mark wanted.”
Merchandise the show, they did. At the end of July 1990, Scherer discussed the expanding world of Twin Peaks merchandise in the New York Times:
Ken Scherer, who was hired three months ago as chief operating officer of Lynch-Frost productions, said the marketing of ”Twin Peaks” was just beginning. Merchandising agreements include a paperback edition of Laura Palmer’s diaries and an audio tape of Agent Dale Cooper’s daily instructions to his secretary, Diane. Mr. Lynch and the show’s composer, Angelo Badalamenti, will also release a ”Twin Peaks” sound-track album next month, Mr. Scherer said. (New York Times, July 24, 1990)
Syndicated author Tom Shales (who regularly covered the Twin Peaks beat) first discussed Dale Cooper’s audio book on July 26, 1990 after speaking with Scherer:
“In addition, Lynch-Frost has tentative plans for a series of ‘Agent Cooper’ audio tapes. Yes, you, too, will be able to sit at home with your Walkman and listen to the private thoughts of Agent Cooper as dictated to his all-ears and unseen secretary, Diane. The tapes will incorporate dialogue already heard on the show and new material written by Lynch and Frost.”
ENTER SCOTT FROST
It’s unclear exactly when Scott Frost, son of Warren Frost and brother of Mark, was enlisted to write the script for the “‘Diane …’ The Twin Peaks Tapes of Agent Cooper.” Interestingly, Frost worked as a production assistant on the set of Season 1 according to a January 20, 2012 interview with fellow Bookhouse Boy Brad Dukes:
“I worked on the set, I was a production assistant and I had never worked on a set before, so I jumped at the chance to do that just for the experience. I thankfully didn’t have to do it too many times afterward. The crew goes through a lot, it’s a lot of work.”
Craig Miller and John Thorne later spoke with Frost in issue 73 of the incredible “Wrapped in Plastic” about his work on the books (pages 16-17):
Craig Miller: “How did you end up working on [The Autobiography of F.B.I. Special Agent Dale Cooper – My Life, My Tapes]?
Scott Frost: “I think I was the only body left standing at that moment. Everybody else was furiously trying to do the show. I believe I had finished my scripts at that point. So it was either me or someone completely from the outside. I had also done the script for the Cooper tape.”
CM: “There were no writing credits on that tape, and we had always wondered if you had written it.”
SF: “Yeah, that was me. I haven’t heard it in years, but it was fun to do.”
The scripts Frost mentioned were for episode 2008 – written between September 12-26, 1990 – and episode 2014 – penned between November 5-28, 1990. This means the script for Cooper’s audio book were written long before those two episodes, and the autobiography was written after November that year.
Most likely, he wrote the script in July and August and it was recorded sometime in the latter month (as the audio cassette would be released in mid-September).
PUBLISHING RIGHTS
On August 18, 1990, The Boston Globe reported that Pocket Books acquired the North American publishing rights to Twin Peaks. The inaugural projects were both Cooper’s audio tapes and “The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer” (a separate article for another time).
A few weeks later, The Billings Gazette ran an article on August 31 that gave some additional details about the audio tape:
“Diane: The ‘Twin Peaks’ Tapes of Agent Cooper,” featuring “Twin Peaks” star Kyle MacLachlan, will include actual dictaphone tapes sent by FBI Agent Dale Cooper to his secretary Diane, as well as materials not broadcast during the series, and will be full of the same quirky, unexpected asides that viewers have come to associate with Agent Cooper.”
Scherer was also quoted about the relationship with Pocket Books:
“Working with Pocket Books is an excellent avenue for pursuing David Lynch and Mark Frost’s creative endeavors through another medium. We are confident that these projects will be as distinctive, different, and groundbreaking as the television series. We feel that many of our viewers are book lovers, and Mark and David look forward to bringing the same amount of creative energy to our publishing efforts as to our weekly series.”
With publishing right set, the book would be released in mid-September 1990 along with the Laura Palmer’s diary.
NEWSWEEK
On April 23, 2022, fellow Bookhouse Boy Javier Valencia asked me on Twitter if I had seen this alternate cover to the Diane Tapes book.
The artwork looks similar to the final release but could have been an early mock up.
The image was included in an Newsweek article from August 1990 which describes several licensing deals. There was even a Twin Peaks game by Nintendo mentioned.
AUDIO BOOK RELEASE
Phil Kloer from The Atlanta Constitution was one of the first reporters to discuss the release of the two Twin Peaks books. On September 13, he wrote an article that included “new revelations” about the series. The season two opener wouldn’t air for a few more weeks, so in essence, these new discoveries were “spoilers.”
“The information, along with other small plot advances, comes from ‘Diane … The Twin Peaks Tapes of Agent Cooper’ (Simon and Schuster, $9.95), a one-hour audio tape narrated by Emmy nominee Kyle MacLachlan as Cooper to his unseen assistant, Diane. Although much of the tape is a repeat of last season’s recording, other new revelations (taped after the finale ended) include:”
ABC Television had re-aired the first season starting in August so the release of these items most likely coincided with the airing of the season one finale. It’s wild to think that these spoilers would be released so far in advance (which I’ll discuss in a moment).
AUDIO BOOK PACKAGING
Let’s take a closer look at the packaging for the audio book.
The front cover and spine of the book. The image was illustrated by Bob Larkin (see details below this section). The spine uses a cropped publicity photo of Agent Cooper holding his trusty tape recorder.
Other cover photography was provided by Russ Lamb and H. Armstrong Roberts (I’m guessing one of them photographed the wood plank behind the illustration and maybe Cooper’s hand).
The same image used for the Star Pics trading card of Agent Cooper’s Tape Recorder.
Just for fun, I removed the title from the front cover using the Content-Aware Fill feature in Adobe Photoshop.
Here’s the same cover illustration without the wood-themed border.
BOB LARKIN
It’s amazing that Bob Larkin was hired to draw the cover illustration of Agent Cooper. He’s an American comics artist primarily known for his painted covers for Marvel Comics’ magazine-format titles Marvel Magazines in the 1970s and early 1980s.
Starting his career as an illustrator in 1969, Larkin created some of the most iconic painted covers for the Bantam Books paperback reissues series of the “Doc Savage” pulp novels. I was shocked to see just how many of his works I recall seeing in my youth.
These covers for Marvel Super Special Magazines of Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back are spectacular.
Don’t even get me started on this breathtaking image from the original Battlestar Galactica. By your command!
The Bob Larkin Blogspot published a short piece about his Twin Peaks design on January 25, 2012.
As of February 13 2019, his original illustration was available for sale from Terry Allen on ComicArtShop.com for $4,500. This acrylic painted piece measures 10.75 x 13.75 (board 15 x 22).
BACK COVER
The back cover provides a synopsis of the book along with two quotes:
“… Diane, I’m holding in my hand, a small box of chocolate bunnies …” [note – dialog from the pilot episode]
Re-experience the mystery of Twin Peaks in an all new way. The Cooper Tapes. The private world of Special Agent Dale Cooper, previously reserved for one woman … Diane, including notes and stories never revealed on television. From the man in the black suit, Twin Peaks, in his own words.
“… Diane, a small town is not unlike a river, lots of hidden currents and eddies, each holding its own secrets. My guess, is that I haven’t even broken the surface yet … Oh, one other thing, Diane, never drink coffee that has been anywhere near a fish…” [note – dialogue written especially for the audio performance, would have taken place after visiting the Blue Pine Lodge in episode 1001]
INSIDE PACKAGING
The front flap opens to reveal more details about Lynch/Frost Productions, Kyle MacLachlan and other key credits. The cassette is found in a cut out that’s opposite the orange-hued flap.
The notes about Kyle don’t mention the Emmy nomination for Twin Peaks, so we can assume it was written before those nominations were made public on August 3, 1990 (MacLachlan was nominated for Lead Actor, Drama Series that year). The Lynch/Frost Productions team would have most certainly included that tidbit if it had been known at the time of printing.
CASSETTE
The cassette cover is basically a miniature version of the audio cassette case.
This is how the cassette looks when the case is closed.
This is the case when it’s opened to reveal the white cassette.
Here are images of sides one and two of the cassette.
You can hear the audio from this book on Archive.org.
SPOILER ALERT
As mentioned, this audio book was released weeks in advance of the season two premiere on September 30, 1990.
There were a handful of article that basically spilled the beans on several cliffhangers. The first article from Jack Garner on September 28, 1990 in the Democrat and Chronicle didn’t give away too many details for fans.
Gannett News Service reporter Lark Borden filed this article toward the end of September which gave away several additional details. The article mentions ABC Television’s recently concluded rerun of the first season. The particular article above was published in Florida Trend on September 30, but I found a similar article as early as September 24 in The Daily Journal.
Similarly, Brian Lambert from Knight-Ridder News Service penned a syndicated article that also offered way more details in advance of the first episode of season two.
Of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that the article above was published in The Odessa American (long before there was ever thoughts of a third season and Carrie Page). Lambert’s article ran as early as September 28.
TOP SELLING BOOK
Fueled by the excitement for season two, it didn’t take long for the new audio book to rocket to the top of the best selling charts. The image above comes from two different newspapers – The Times on November 11 (left) and The Argus Leader on November 13 (right).
The momentum continued into December. The Arizona Daily Star on December 1 (left) even remarked that the number one spot for audio books in the month of November was “Diane … The Twin Peaks Tapes of Agent Cooper.” By December 18 (right), the Iowa City Press continued listing the book at the top of the charts.
GRAMMY NOMINATION
Astonishingly (or not), the book appeared on the official nomination list for the 33rd Grammy Awards released on January 11, 1991. Cooper’s tapes were in outstanding company for the category of “Spoken or Non-Musical Recording” with works by George Burns, Jimmy Stewart, Garrison Keillor and John F. Kennedy, Jr.
The Daily News even ran this piece on February 6, 1991. Incredible to see our special agent in the company of legends.
Not everyone was on board with Agent Cooper potentially receiving a Grammy.
Sandy Bauers from Knight-Ridder Newspapers published this piece on February 13, 1991 calling three out of the five nominees duds, including the Twin Peaks nod.
“Consider, for example, ‘Diane … The Twin Peaks Tapes of Agent Cooper’ from Simon & Schuster (45 minutes, $9.95). Read by actor Kyle MacLachlan, who plays Agent Cooper, it’s little more than a TV spinoff. Although the TV audience is small by industry standards – a mere 12,190,000 viewers on an average night, ABC says – the audience is devoted, which bodes well for audio sales. But it’s hardly an example of the best the audio industry can produce. When the Grammy winner is announced Feb. 20, I doubt Twin Peaks will be named.”
Conversely, Cliff Radel from Gannet News Service filed a story on February 20, the day of the Grammy Award presentation, predicting that Agent Coopers tapes would be the winner.
The award was presented in an off-screen ceremony to George Burns for “Gracie: A Love Story.”
The legendary comic may have won the Grammy in February but ol’ Coop was still at the top of the charts in March 1991. By July 6 that year, the book was no where to be found in the top 10 Best Sellers list.
I’ve been unable to locate just how much the book generated during that first year of sales.
REISSUING A CLASSIC
Flash forward to December 27, 2016, Simon & Schuster reissued this audio cassette as an audio book (as reported by WelcomeToTwinPeaks.com).
They included a new version of the iconic cover illustration but for some reason cut off the top of the image. Go figure.
There is also a track listing which may have been created by fans (it’s found on WelcomeToTwinPeaks.com and Archive.org):
“Diane… The Twin Peaks Tapes Of Agent Cooper” Tracklist
- Theme From Twin Peaks 1:31
- “Diane, It’s 8:00 AM, Seattle, Washington…” 1:42
- “Preparing To Board Flight 210…” 1:35
- “Airborne…” 1:05
- “Back On Solid Ground…” 0:51
- “11:30 AM, February 24th – Entering The Town Of Twin Peaks…” 1:34
- “Calhoun Memorial Hospital, Twin Peaks…” 0:21
- “Sheriff, We’ve Got A Lot To Talk About…” 0:47
- “Diane, I’m Holding In My Hand A Small Box Of Chocolate Bunnies…” 1:42
- “Night Has Fallen Hard On Twin Peaks…” 1:20
- “If You Could Bottle This Air…” 0:56
- “6:18 AM, Room 315, Great Northern Hotel…” 1:01
- “It Struck Me Again Earlier This Morning…” 0:28
- “We’ve Just Released James Hurley…” 0:41
- “Never Drink Coffee That Has Been Anywhere Near A Fish…” 0:54
- “This Must Be Where Pies Go When They Die…” 0:10
- “But First Another Piece Of This Heavenly Pie…” 0:14
- “Events Converge – The Theory Of Concentric Thinking…” 1:09
- “Canadian Geese…” 0:23
- “Long Day, Turning In…” 0:43
- “10:25 AM, Twin Peaks County Morgue…” 1:02
- “Diane, It’s 12:27 PM…” 0:42
- “A New Day For All But The Dead…” 1:28
- “Sunrise – Slept Badly…” 0:54
- “The Killer In My Dream Was Named Bob…” 0:45
- “When All Signs Point To Rome, Diane…” 0:42
- “11:19 PM, Jacques Renaud’s Apartment…” 0:45
- “Once A Traveler Leaves His Home…” 0:45
- “Deep In The Woods Near The Pearl Lakes…” 0:48
- “I Discovered Audrey Horne Lying In My Bed…” 0:37
- “Diane, 1:00 PM, Note The Following…” 1:03
- “What You Are About To Hear Is Deeply Disturbing…” 1:06
- “Roulette, Diane, Is A Sucker’s Game…” 1:06
- “There’s A Feeling Of Death In The Air…” 0:47
- “I Believe I Need A Large Cup Of Hot, Strong Coffee…” 1:07
- “Diane, 4:37 AM…” 0:57
- “As Long As You Can Keep The Fear From Your Mind…” 2:55
- “Have You Ever Known Any Really Tall Men?…” 1:18
- “I Think I’m On The Verge Of A Breakthrough…” 0:29
- “It’s Time To Lay This All Out As We Now Have It…” 1:56
- “Sleep Deprivation Is A One-Way Ticket To Temporary Psychosis…” 0:57
- Dance Of The Dream Man 3:27
BRAIN DEAD RECORDS RELEASE
Sometime in possibly 2017, Brain Dead Records released a Killer Bob-inspired tee on their website.
The green-colored tee (like a formica table top?) featured a stylized “Have You Seen Him?” poster with Killer Bob’s sketch.
With the purchase of this now sold out tee, fans received a limited edition (and unofficial) copy of “Diane … The Twin Peaks Tapes of Agent Cooper.”
The cassette is pretty generic and labeled “Diane Tapes.”
Time to brew a fresh pot of coffee and listen to the private thoughts of Agent Cooper.
Thanks for this really interesting piece. Annoyingly, the Audible version of the Tapes is monaural so the free YouTube version is superior.
What a fantastic article to slide into my Google Suggestions just as I was about to start searching for this very thing!
Brilliant piece. Many thanks!
I have a copy of this which lists running time as 1 Hour. ISBN and Barcodes are identical to other copies for sale online. And the rest of the packaging is otherwise identical to the one shown in this article.
But I’ve only seen two with a one hour running time on the back. All others have 45 minutes.
Would you have insight into why this may be? One of the news clippings in the article also cites one hour. But I can’t find any other references to it barring my own copy and another I found on eBay. The audiobook and vast majority of cassette copies still cite 45 minutes.
In any case, thanks so much for the wonderful and insightful piece.
Great article!
Great article with fantastic research. I’ve been trying to hunt down the store display that held a batch of these tapes. Hopefully one will eventually turn up…