Think tanks are a place where politicians, consultants, issue
experts, and intelligence folks "park" between other gigs.
One of Thomas' later novels begins with a character who is a
terrorism expert being laid off at a think tank. There are
full-time think- tankers who stay at the Cato Institute or
the Brookings Institute year after year but there are others
who "park" there until the next election or the next lengthy
job offer surfaces.
Charles McCarry was a speech writer for the Secretary of
Labor until he was recruited to the CIA by Allen Dulles. A
fine writer with an interesting "day job" career beyond his
undercover work with the CIA. He was for years the "writing
doctor" at National Geographic magazine, another Washington
Institution and he has ghosted at least two high profile
political memoirs.
While we are on the subject of spy fiction, my most recent
reading includes the novels of the British novelist John
Gardner. I was completely charmed by his first novel THE
LIQUIDATORS, which was funny as hell as well as exciting, and
also impressed with A COMPLETE STATE OF DEATH (which is
police not spy). I have now loaded up with another dozen of
his novels (none are the James Bond continuations) and can't
wait to read more. I think I avoided him because of the Bond
novels but that was a mistake. He is quite
accomplished.
Richard Moore
--- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "jimdohertyjr"
<jimdohertyjr@y...> wrote:
>
> Some follow-up on my comment below:
>
> > I've heard that Gayle Lynds (Mrs. Michael
Collins) has also
worked
> in
> > some capacity for US Intelligence, but, again,
I'm not
absolutely
> > sure of that. Like Bill and Hagberg, Mrs. Lynds
first spy
novels
> > were Nick Carter PBO's. In addition to her own
stuff, she's
> recently
> > been "completing" Robert Ludlum
novels.
>
> According to her website, Mrs. Lynds is "a former
editor with Top
> Secret security clearance at a think tank where her
government
> projects ranged from making deserts bloom to
designing cutting-
edge
> military hardware that had the capacity to wipe life
from entire
> continents."
>
> That sounds like she was at least on the peripherary
of what
Kipling
> called "The Great Game."
>
> JIM DOHERTY
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