PSST! WANT TO READ A SECRET?

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000605290003-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 8, 2012
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: January 3, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/08: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605290003-0
+..;real-Ril..- __0 -
NEW HAVEN REGISTER (CT)
3 January 1985
r Publisher Jahn Quirk says he'll
By Bill Lazarus
Stuff Reporter
spill a few about tne C!A ..
Quirk, 39, has visions of recount-,
ing spy activities from the past 200
GUILFORD - John Quirk
just can't keep a secret.
"Do you know that the United
States has a whole division of
troops dressed up in Russian uni-
forms?" he asked excitedly, gestur-
ing over his office conference table
sprinkled with photographs and i
drawings of U.S. spy satellites and
ultramodern jet planes.
"That we have pictures of every
harbor in the world from above
and below? That the KGB (Rus-
sian secret police) goal for the
1980s is to put. 300 agents in the
United States?"
There are many more secrets
where those came from. And
Quirk isn't planning to limit their
spread to his visitors. This spring,
the long-time publisher of special
education hooks expects to pro-
duce a detailed history of the Cen-
tral Intelligence Agency, complete
with maps, charts, graphs and, yes,
secrets.
The book is being written by
former CIA agents and will include
interviews with current director
William Casey, former director
William Colby, retired agents and
experts in the field as well as de-
tails dug out of unclassified files
Much of the data was just re-
leased by the agency under the fed-
eral Freedom of Information Act
and has never been published be-
fore, Quirk said.
The, book, estimated to run
close to 300 pages and retailing for
at least $29, is scheduled to be the
first in an long-running series pro-
duced by Quirk's newest publish-
ing venture, the Foreign Intelli-I
gence Press. Other books will
examine the KGB, the FBI, the Is-
raeli secret police, the. U.S. Secret
Service, Soviet military intelli-
gence and similar organizations.
A former. history teacher who
started publishing materials fori,
handicapped children in 1977,
years in the series.
It is a mammoth undertaking,
but the Chicago native is excited
by the possibilities. "I made a little
money in special education," he
said. "This is my project now. I'm
having a good time."
His new company, which will
be relocated eventually in New
Haven to separate itself completely
from Quirk's parent firm, Special
Learning Corp., conducted a mar-
keting survey to find out if there
were any interest in spies and spy
history before going into produc-
tion. Researchers also surveyed at-
titudes of junior-high-school and
high-school students.
They found that the subject
matter attracted enough attention
to make the books feasible.
"There were also many miscon-
ceptions about the intelligence
agencies, and about the CIA in
particular," said Quirk, a direct,
excitable man who holds a B.A. in
history from DePaul University
and has worked in publishing for
almost 19 years.
Quirk had a few misconceptions
himself at first, he said. Initially,
Quirk said, he felt that foreign
agents had little influence in
worldwide organizations. Now, af-
ter years of travel worldwide, he
believes just the opposite.
His parent company had landed
contracts to publish books for the
handicapped in such countries as
Israel, Venezuela and England as
well as for the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultur-
al Organization (UNESCO).
To service the accounts, Quirk
spent much of his time abroad.
While traveling, he said, he be-
came aware of how governments
and agencies were affected by So-
viet agents. in particular, he was
intrigued by how Soviet agents in-
fluenced United Nations decisions
on. policy, particularly at UNES-
CO. ktie pointed out that the Unit-
ed States withdrew financial sup-
port for UNESCO as of Jan. 1,
because, the government claimed,
of "political shifts" within the
agency.)
That interest expanded to in-
clude all' intelligence gathering.
Checking libraries, Quirk found
that most books on intelligence
agencies were "negative, exposes,"-
he said. Those that weren't were
"sensationalized, glamorous."
Not his book. "I have no axe to
grind," Quirk insisted. Instead, the
Guilford resident decided to pro-
duce a "coffee-table size history"
appropriate as a textbook or for
the general public.
Because of the recent release of
the previously classified docu-
ments, the descriptions of CIA-re-
lated events of the 1950s, 1960s
and 1970s will be as complete as
.possible, Quirk claimed. Episodes
in the 1980s will be sketchy, how-
ever, because much of that data is
still classified and unavailable.
The intelligence agency has coo-
perated with the book's authors,
Quirk said,- a less-than-surprising
development since the book will
be unabashedly pro-CIA. That's to '
counter the common impression
that, somehow, intelligence gather-
ing is wrong, Quirk said.
"Most of the media has focused
on the abuses," he said. His book,
instead, will examine the agency's
goals. It will start with the begin-
ning of American intelligence gath-
ering in the 1700s, advance to the
founding of the CIA in the late
1940s and conclude with-a look at
current activities.
Any misdeeds will not be ig-
nored, Quirk claimed. "I think
we'll bring out everything," he
said.
Continued
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/08: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605290003-0
 f"
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/08: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605290003-0
Among the areas to be covered
will be the role of the CIA with the
Shah of Iran in the 1950s, the
overthrow of Salvador Allende in
Chile and in the unrest in.
Guatemala.
The reported $1 million fund
backing the publishing venture is
being provided partially by Quirk
and by unidentified investors.
Quirk said the CIA is not supply-
ing the money. "I'm not affiliated
.with any right-wing or political
group," he insisted.
Instead, Quirk said, he. is"just
interested in history and wants to
let the general public in-on the'
facts - and the secrets - he has
discovered.
John Quirk, left, is finishing
work on a new book that he says
will detail both the history of the
Central Intelligence agency and
-some of its recent -and contro= I
versial - programs: William
Donovan, above, first director
and. organizer of U.S.'s spy
agencies, played an important)
role in that history. Nathan;
Hale, below, an early American'
spy, confers with Gen. George
Washington.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/08: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605290003-0
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/08: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605290003-0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/08: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605290003-0