SULLIVAN, John F. 1939-

PERSONAL:

Born August 16, 1939, in New London, CT; son of William (a gardener) and Helen (a housekeeper; maiden name, Rowan) Sullivan; married Leonor Tijerina (a secretary), August 29, 1970. Ethnicity: "Irish." Education: Albany State Teachers College, B.A., 1961; attended Michigan State University, 1967-68. Politics: Independent. Religion: Roman Catholic.

ADDRESSES:

Agent—c/o Author Mail, University Press of Kansas, 2501 West 15th St, Lawrence, KS 66049-3905. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Central Intelligence Agency, Langley, VA, polygraph examiner, 1968-99; retired, 1999. Military service: U.S. Army, 1962-67; served in Vietnam; became staff sergeant.

MEMBER:

Association of Former Intelligence Officers, Central Intelligence Agency Retirement Association.

WRITINGS:

Of Spies and Lies: A CIA Lie Detector Remembers Vietnam, University Press of Kansas (Lawrence, KS), 2002.

Contributor to the journal Polygraph.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

A book on the history of polygraph in the Central Intelligence Agency.

SIDELIGHTS:

John F. Sullivan told CA: "My primary motivation for writing is that I enjoy writing and see it as an extension of my joke and anecdote telling. I also write because I think I have something to say. With Of Spies and Lies: A CIA Lie Detector Remembers Vietnam, I felt I had something to say about the role of the Central Intelligence Agency in Vietnam that had not been said.

"My writing process is one in which I do most of my writing in the afternoon and evening. I sit down at the personal computer and start writing. After I finish for the day, my wife Lee goes over what I have written, makes corrections, and has a draft waiting for me the next morning. I review the draft, check the footnotes, and then just get away for a few hours.

"Vietnam, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the polygraph are three topics about which I feel I write authoritatively. Information about all three of these topics abounds, and I am inspired to try and set the record straight."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Sullivan, John F., Of Spies and Lies: A CIA Lie Detector Remembers Vietnam, University Press of Kansas (Lawrence, KS), 2002.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, April 1, 2002, David Pitt, review of Of Spies and Lies, p. 1295.

Library Journal, May 15, 2002, John R. Vallely, review of Of Spies and Lies, p. 111.

Publishers Weekly, March 25, 2002, review of Of Spies and Lies, p. 50.