Lyle Hugh Munson[1] (?- c. 1974)[2] was an intelligence agent[3] and then, later, a book publisher and distributor under the corporate name Bookmailer, Inc.. Based in the New York area, his company was known particularly for offering anti-communist works.
Robert W. Welch Jr., the head of the John Birch Society, considered him a "good friend".[4] Munson's advice to the Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises for the author to threaten Yale University Press to take Human Action to another publisher because of delays caused it to rush out its flawed second edition.[5]
Intelligence
editMunson worked for the OSS starting in 1940,[6] and in the CIA's psychological warfare division. In 1949, he testified before the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee.[3]
Bookmailer
editDuring the 29 years of its existence, Bookmailer published around fifty books on its own,[2] in addition to distributing books published by small publishers. They were based in New York City, changing offices after an April 18, 1961, burglary.[7] In 1964, they moved to Linden, New Jersey.[8][9] The company was 20% owned by P. C. Beezley. Sales circa 1960 were about 200,000 volumes per year,[1] and grew to around 2 million in 1961 off of a wave of interest in anti-communist material.[10] Employees included Herbert Romerstein,[11] later director of the U.S. Information Agency's Office to Counter Soviet Disinformation under the Reagan administration.
According to Russell Kirk, Bookmailer advertising was turned down by conservative journal Modern Age because his advertising agent had a Jewish name.[12]
Books published
edit- Attack by Mail"[9]
- Communism and Your Child by Herbert Romerstein[11]
- An edition of Freedom from War: the United States Program for General and Complete Disarmament in a Peaceful World (Department of State publication 7277) intended to stoke protests against US moves toward disarmament[13]
- The John Franklin Letters[14] (inspiration for The Turner Diaries)[15]
- Major Jordan's Diaries by George Racey Jordan with Richard L. Stokes (reprint edition)[4]
- The World's Most Orphaned Nation by Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty[1]
- A volume of speeches by US Senator Thomas J. Dodd[16]
Personal life
editMunson and his wife, Anne, moved from New Jersey to Mattoon, Illinois less than a year before his death. After he passed, Anne started her own by-mail bookselling operation, Munson Books.[2]
References
edit- ^ a b c "BEEZLEY v. COMMISSIONER | 27 T.C.M. 1015 (1968) | tcm10151838". Leagle.com. 1968-09-19. Retrieved 2022-08-12.
- ^ a b c Smith, Linda (January 8, 1976). "Widow starts business, takes newspaper route". Journal Gazette. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
- ^ a b Life-Lines, volume 14, 1972
- ^ a b The Blue Book of The John Birch Society (Fifth Edition) By Robert Welch
- ^ Herbener, Jeffrey M. (January 8, 1999). "From the archives". Mises Institute. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
- ^ Kahn, Ely Jacques (1976). The China Hands: America's Foreign Service Officers and what Befell Them. Penguin Books. ISBN 9780140043013.
- ^ The Weekly Crusader, volume 3 (1962) page 14
- ^ Publishers Weekly, Volume 186 (1964) page 59
- ^ a b Tactics, Volume 6, Issue 9, 20 September 1969
- ^ Knebel, Fletcher (December 17, 1961). "Big Boom in the Publishing World: Anti-Red Books are Best-Sellers". Des Moines Register.
- ^ a b "Herbert Romerstein (RIP)".
- ^ Imaginative Conservatism: The Letters of Russell Kirk
- ^ "No Army - No Navy - No Air Force". The Star (Port St. Joe, Florida). April 5, 1962. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
- ^ Newberry, Mike (1961). The Fascist Revival: The Inside Story of the John Birch Society. New Century Publishers. p. 4.
- ^ "The John Franklin Letters".
- ^ Congressional Record