W. Mark Felt

William Mark Felt, Sr. (born August 17, 1913) is a former agent and top official of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was revealed in 2005 to be the Watergate scandal informant nicknamed "Deep Throat."

Later years

Felt published his memoir The FBI Pyramid From the Inside in 1979. It was co-written with conservative writer Ralph de Toledano, though his name appears only in the copyright notice. Toldedano in 2005 wrote that the volume was "largely written by me since his original manuscript read like The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table." Toledano said:

Related Topics:
2005 - The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table

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:Felt swore to me that he was not Deep Throat, that he had never leaked information to the Woodward-Bernstein team or anyone else. The book was published and bombed.{{ref|Toldedano}}

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Library Journal wrote in their review that "at one time Felt was assumed to be Watergate's 'Deep Throat'; in this interesting but hardly sensational memoir, he makes it clear that that honor, if honor it be, lies elsewhere."{{ref|LibraryJournalReview}} The memoir was a strong defense of Hoover and his tenure as Director and condemned the reaction to criticisms of the Bureau made in the 1970s by the Church Committee and civil libertarians. He also denounced the treatment of Bureau agents as criminals and said the Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act of 1974 only served to interfere with government work and helped criminals. (The flavor of his criticisms is apparent with the very first words of the book: "The Bill of Rights is not a suicide pact," Justice Robert H. Jackson's comment in his dissent to Terminello v. City of Chicago, 337 U.S. 1 (1949).{{ref|NotASuicidePact}}) The New York Times Book Review was highly critical of the book saying Felt "seeks to perpetuate a view of Hoover and the F.B.I. that is no longer seriously peddled even on the backs of cereal boxes" and contains "a disturbing number of factual errors,"{{ref|NYTBR}} sentiments echoed by Curt Gentry who said Felt was "the keeper of the Hoover flame."{{ref|KeeperHooverFlame}}

Related Topics:
Church Committee - Freedom of Information Act - Privacy Act of 1974 - Robert H. Jackson - 1949

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In 1990, Felt moved to Santa Rosa, California, from Alexandria, Virginia, his home since the 1970s. In 1992, he bought his present home in Santa Rosa and since then lived with his daughter Joan Felt. He suffered a stroke before 1999, reported Ronald Kessler, and met with Bob Woodward in 1999. Kessler took this as evidence that Felt was "Deep Throat". However, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat said Felt's stroke was in 2001.{{ref|KesslerEvidenceOfDeepThroat}}

Related Topics:
Santa Rosa, California - Alexandria, Virginia - 1970s - 1992 - 1999 - 2001

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Felt and his wife, Audrey, who died in 1984, had two children, Joan (born circa 1944) and Mark. Joan, who had earned two degrees from Stanford University and won a Fulbright Scholarship, joined a commune in the 1970s and, according the Vanity Fair article by John D. O'Connor revealing Felt's secret, gave birth to her son on camera for a documentary, The Birth of Ludi. Joan had three sons, Will (a.k.a. Ludi) Felt (born 1974); Robbie Jones (born circa 1979); and Nick Jones (born circa 1981). Nick Jones was a schoolmate of O'Connor's daughter and they met at a party. Joan teaches Spanish at Sonoma State University and Santa Rosa Junior College, and is a long time member of and local contact for Adi Da. Felt's son Mark Jr. is a pilot for American Airlines and a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel.{{ref|FeltsChildren}}

Related Topics:
1984 - 1944 - Stanford University - Fulbright Scholarship - 1970s - 1979 - 1981 - Spanish - Sonoma State University - Santa Rosa Junior College - Adi Da - American Airlines - U.S. Air Force

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