A Need to Know: The Clandestine History of a CIA Family - Paperback

by H. L. Goodall Jr (Author)

In scenes eerily parallel to the culture of fear inspired by our current War on Terror, A Need to Know explores the clandestine history of a CIA family defined, and ultimately destroyed, by their oath to keep toxic secrets during the Cold War. When Bud Goodall's father mysteriously died, his inheritance consisted of three well-worn books: a Holy Bible, The Great Gatsby, and a diary. But they turned his life upside down. From the diary Goodall learned that his father had been a CIA operative during the height of the Cold War, and the Bible and Gatsby had been his codebooks. Many unexplained facets of Bud's childhood came into focus with this revelation.The high living in Rome and London. The blood-stained stiletto in his jewelry case. Bud, as a child, was always told he never had "a need to know." Or did he? Now, as an adult and a university professor, Goodall attempts to fill in the missing pieces of his Cold War childhood by uncovering a lifetime of family secrets. Who were his parents? What did his father do on those business trips when he was "working for the government?" What betrayal turned a heroic career of national service into a nightmare of alcoholism, depression, and premature death for both of his parents? Slowly, inexorably, Goodall unearths the chilling secrets of a CIA family in A Need to Know. 2006 Best Book Award, National Communication Association Ethnography Division

Author Biography

The late H. L. (Bud) Goodall, Jr. was Professor of Communication and Director of the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at Arizona State University. He was the author or co-author of 20 books, including A Need to Know: The Clandestine History of a CIA Family (Left Coast Press, Inc., 2006), and over 100 articles, chapters, and papers. A Need to Know received the 2006 Best Book Award from the National Communication Association's Ethnography Division. A pioneer in the field of creative nonfiction, Goodall covered a range of topics including high-technology organizations and cultures, rock 'n' roll bands, and alternative religions. He co-wrote the award-winning textbook Organizational Communication: Balancing Creativity and Constraint (with Eric Eisenberg and Angela Trethewey) and also authored the highly acclaimed Writing the New Ethnography in 2000. With Steve Corman and Angela Trethewey, he co-edited a volume entitled Weapons of Mass Persuasion: Strategic Communication and the Struggle Against Violent Extremists.