Official and Confidential_ The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover - Anthony Summers [268]
Some of the new evidence on the Pearl Harbor saga was found in the pigeon loft at the former residence of the Bishop of Grasse, now the home of Marco Popov, son of World War II agent Dusko Popov. Alston Purvis, son of Melvin, gave me access to his father’s voluminous correspondence with Hoover – the only known extensive example of the Director’s private letter-writing. The author James Rusbridger readily dug into his Pearl Harbor files. Gaye Humphreys, in Ireland, led me by the hand into the world of psychiatry, where I had never ventured before. The attorney and author Bill Pepper provided key contacts in the world of organized crime.
The Assassination Archive and Research Center in Washington, which housed a massive collection of FBI material on President Kennedy’s murder, was again a vital resource – one so valuable that it deserved more solid support than a handful of private individuals can provide. With them, I regretted the death in 1991 of its founder, Bernard Fensterwald, whose experience as a congressional Chief Counsel helped me understand the way Hoover manipulated the Congress. I thank Mark Allen, Mary Ferrell and Paul Hoch, Professor Philip Melanson and Harold Weisberg – those most responsible of assassination scholars. Gary Miller, Dale Myers, Larry Happanen, Gus Russo, Dennis Lee Effle, Ed Tatro and Scott Van Wynsberghe kindly supplied contacts and information.
Two distinguished authors who had previously written about Hoover, David Garrow and Richard Gid Powers, ransacked their files and their memories. John Flanagin and Sondra Feldstein, who both hold advanced degrees in American history, performed the often thankless task of plowing through the papers of former presidents and countless government officials. Margot Edman and Julie Ziegler in New York, Robert Fink and Margaret St John in Washington, Peter Frumkin in Boston and Mike Spears in Dallas all gave sterling service as researchers. In California, former IRS agent John Daley provided valuable contacts. K. B. Basseches in Washington and Terry Murphy in Ireland photographed ancient photographs with scrupulous care. At Putnam in New York, Dolores McMullan handled the logistics of transatlantic editing with courtesy and enthusiasm. In Virginia, Audrey Atkins, Kathy Titus, Barbara Warren and Shirley Yoder faithfully logged hundreds of hours of tape-recorded interviews. Debbie Roberts helped bring order to our chaotic Virginia office, as did John Lombard in Ireland. Denise Fitzgerald came to the rescue with secretarial help on the final lap. Pip Printing in Manassas and Mail Boxes Etc. in Georgetown copied many thousands of documents – and that is no idle credit in a book of this genre. James Ronayne drove thousands of uncomplaining miles on my behalf.
I was indebted once again to my attorney James Lesar, a master of the Freedom of Information Act, and my financial adviser, Peter Metcalf. Nine talented journalists, Fred Cook in New Jersey, Hank Messick and Dan Christensen in Florida, Anthony Cook in Beverly Hills, William Dufty in Michigan, Jeff Goldberg and Jim Hougan in Washington, and Stephen Dorril and Tom Mangold in the UK, were foremost among the many colleagues who shared expertise without asking for reward. I salute the producers of Frontline, at WGBH in Boston, and director Bill Cran, of Invision in London, who defended their Hoover program and my role in it with integrity, and who have permitted me to quote from Frontline interviews in this paperback edition. And long-suffering friends Bob Dorff, Fanny Dubes, Tamara Glenny and Henry Ehrlich, Monica Gruler, Sheelagh Power and Rupert Murray, and Paddy and Joyce O’Keeffe of Knocklofty House in County Tipperary, supplied all manner of help – above all, laughter.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
In the hardback edition, there was an extensive Bibliography, covering some 260 titles. To keep this paperback edition compact, only books on