Co-author of the first book censored by the CIA dies

Now here’s an eye-grabbing headline: “Victor Marchetti, 88, Dies; Book Was First to Be Censored by CIA.”

The New York Times reports that Marchetti, a disillusioned CIA employee who co-wrote a book about the agency’s inner workings, passed away on October 19 at age eighty-eight.

When Marchetti was hired by the CIA, he signed a contract pledging not to disclose classified information, which served as the basis for the CIA’s desire to censor passages in The CIA and the Cult of Intelligence.

Marchetti, his co-author, and publisher challenged the agency in court, accusing it of violating their First Amendment rights.

The book ultimately was published using blank spaces to indicate totally redacted passages and bold type to show passages that had been unsuccessfully challenged.

Marchetti’s work inspired not only that key First Amendment fight, but also several other entries that came to be known as “the literature of disillusion.”

Read the full obituary here.