John le Carré RIP

[Oexmelin]

A colleague of mine shared a story re: Le Carré.

A few years ago, she was emptying the flat of her deceased father. She finds a cache of letters between her father and a certain individual. Being a historian she reads them, but they are quite mundane expressions of friendships.

A few years later, she gets around to reading Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and spots the name of said individual in Le Carré's dedication. She wrote to Le Carré, who, to her surprise, replied - they carried an infrequent conversation for a couple of years. 

Turns out her father was US intelligence in Bonn, where Le Carré was stationed and both learned the ropes from the same guy, Samuel "Dusty" Rhodes. 

(https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/samuel-t-dusty-rhodes-army-lieutenant-colonel/2014/02/01/485fe814-8537-11e3-bbe5-6a2a3141e3a9_story.html)

[mongers]

A colleague of mine shared a story re: Le Carré.

A few years ago, she was emptying the flat of her deceased father. She finds a cache of letters between her father and a certain individual. Being a historian she reads them, but they are quite mundane expressions of friendships.

A few years later, she gets around to reading Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and spots the name of said individual in Le Carré's dedication. She wrote to Le Carré, who, to her surprise, replied - they carried an infrequent conversation for a couple of years. 

Turns out her father was US intelligence in Bonn, where Le Carré was stationed and both learned the ropes from the same guy, Samuel "Dusty" Rhodes. 

(https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/samuel-t-dusty-rhodes-army-lieutenant-colonel/2014/02/01/485fe814-8537-11e3-bbe5-6a2a3141e3a9_story.html)

Neat story.