Melissa Boyle Mahle

Melissa Boyle Mahle is a writer and former Central Intelligence Agency officer.

Melissa Boyle Mahle
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of California, Berkeley
Occupationformer intelligence officer, movie consultant non-fiction author, co-founder of SpyGirls Press
Espionage activity
AllegianceUnited States
Service branchUnited States-Central Intelligence Agency
Service years1980s-2000s

Background

She graduated from University of California, Berkeley and went on to acquire fluency in Arabic.[1]

Covert career

Mahle worked as a CIA "field officer" (spy) for the CIA from the mid-1980s until 2002 in the Middle East. She was involved in US intelligence operations in the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa. Her service spans the presidencies of Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, to the beginning of George W. Bush.[1][2]

Public career

Since leaving the CIA, Mahle has worked as a commentator, movie consultant, author, and publisher.[2]

In 2004, after leaving the CIA, Mahle published Denial and Deception, in which she criticized in detail the CIA as rudderless and adrift in a post-Cold War world up to 9/11. She also described the challenges of being a married woman field agent (in a covert career that overlapped with Valerie Plame).[3]

She appeared as a guest on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart in 2005. For the documentary Secrecy in 2008, which opened at the Sundance Film Festival, she featured in and advised filmmakers Peter Galison and Robb Moss on practices within the Intelligence Community. For the film Salt (2010), she advised actors Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, and Chiwetel Ejiofor on their as well as director Phillip Noyce on script and visuals. For the film Hanna (2011), she advised actress Cate Blanchett on her role and director Joe Wright on script.[4][5][6]

She often speaks at the International Spy Museum, particularly youth programs.[7][8]

She co-founded Spy Girls Press with Kathryn Dennis.[9]

Selected works
  • Denial and Deception: An Insider’s View of the CIA from Iran-Contra to 9/11 (The Nation Press, 2004) [10]
  • Lost in Petra - Anatolia Steppe Mystery, Book 1) (Spy Girls Press, 2012)
  • Camp Secret - Junior Spies, Volume 1 (Spy Girls Press, 2013)
  • Uncovered in Istanbul - Anatolia Steppe Mystery, Volume 2 (Spy Girls Press, 2014)
gollark: No, it adds wrong.
gollark: My image in your image, I mean.
gollark: Besides, your image has rounded corners and is therefore wrong.
gollark: That's not an NFT, actually.
gollark: Would you like to buy any?

References
  1. Coll, Steve (13 January 2005). "Spy-Turned-Author Looks Back At a CIA Mired in Bureaucracy". Washington Post.
  2. "Melissa Boyle Mahle". Amazon. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  3. "Books". Melissa Boyle Mahle. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  4. "Melissa Boyle Mahle". Comedy Central. 7 March 2005.
  5. "Salt". Wired. July 2010.
  6. "Film and Television". Melissa Boyle Mahle. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  7. "Events". Melissa Boyle Mahle. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  8. "Melissa Boyle Mahle". International Spy Museum. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  9. "About". Spy Girls Press. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  10. Spy Museum Profile
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.