'S' NOVEL ON SALE IN U.S., AFTER CANADIAN DISPUTE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000100520002-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 18, 2010
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: June 17, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/18: CIA-RDP90-
AR?ICLS AMU=
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NEW YORK TIMES
17 JUNE 1982
`S' Novel on Sale in
After Canadian Dispute
Ian Adams, author of "S: Portrait
.of a Spy,". made legal history in
Canada two years ago when in a libel
case he was ordered by the Ontario
Supreme Court to disclose his sources.
He declined. What made the $2.2 mil=
lion case against him and his pub-
lisher remarkable is that "S" is a
novel.
This week, the book is being pub.
lished in the United States by Ticknor
& Fields without any changes. As part
of the court settlement, a disclaimer
was added before the book could be
distributed in Canada, where it was
held up for three years. The same dis-
'claimer appears in the American edi-
tion.
This is the first time in publishing
history in which the plaintiff in a case,
who contended that he had been li-
beled because he was recognizable as
a fictional character, insisted that his
real name be printed in the book. The
disclaimer reads:
"All characters in this book are fic-
tional and any resemblance to per.
sons, living or dead, is purely.coinci.
dental and in particular, 'S' is not and
was not intended to be Leslie James
Bennett."
Background of the Story
In New York this week, Mr. Adams,
a journalist-novelist, explained the
background of Leslie James Bennett:
"For almost 32 years, Bennett has
been with the British and then the
Canadian intelligence services. Most
of the time he was the head of counter-
espionage for the security services of
the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
and ran the Russian desk - keeping
an eye on the K.G.B.," the Soviet Gov
ernment's intelligence and internal.
security agency. .
Mr. Adams says in the introduction
to his book that Mr. Bennett's career
ended after questions had been raised
about his loyalty and reported ties to
foreign agencies, including the Cen-
tral Intelligence Agency. He was.
given a medical discharge, left the
service and is living in retirement in
Australia.
In the novel, "S" is a triple agent in.
volved with the Canadian mounted po.
lice, the K.G.B., and the C.I.A. Mr.
Adams said that he had not set out to'
write about Mr. Bennett but, rather,
about the mounted police security services - and that sometimes facts
and fiction had intertwined.
Why is "S" a novel? "I decided that :
I could tell more of the truth in a fia'
tional context," the author said. . ;
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/18: CIA-RDP90-00552R000100520002-3