Lyle Munson

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, and has been described as having been the "leading publisher of antisemitic and hate literature".[4]

Robert W. Welch Jr., the head of the John Birch Society, considered him a "good friend".[4][5] 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.[6]

Intelligence

Munson worked for the OSS starting in 1940,[7] and in the CIA's psychological warfare division. In 1949, he testified before the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee.[3]

Bookmailer

During 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.[8] In 1964, they moved to Linden, New Jersey.[9][10] 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.[11] Employees included Herbert Romerstein,[12] 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.[13]

Books published

Personal life

Munson 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
  1. "BEEZLEY v. COMMISSIONER | 27 T.C.M. 1015 (1968) | tcm10151838". Leagle.com. 1968-09-19. Retrieved 2022-08-12.
  2. Smith, Linda (January 8, 1976). "Widow starts business, takes newspaper route". Journal Gazette. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  3. Life-Lines, volume 14, 1972
  4. Newberry, Mike (1961). The Fascist Revival: The Inside Story of the John Birch Society. New Century Publishers. p. 4.
  5. The Blue Book of The John Birch Society (Fifth Edition) By Robert Welch
  6. Herbener, Jeffrey M. (January 8, 1999). "From the archives". Mises Institute. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  7. Kahn, Ely Jacques (1976). The China Hands: America's Foreign Service Officers and what Befell Them. Penguin Books. ISBN 9780140043013.
  8. The Weekly Crusader, volume 3 (1962) page 14
  9. Publishers Weekly, Volume 186 (1964) page 59
  10. Tactics, Volume 6, Issue 9, 20 September 1969
  11. Knebel, Fletcher (December 17, 1961). "Big Boom in the Publishing World: Anti-Red Books are Best-Sellers". Des Moines Register.
  12. "Herbert Romerstein (RIP)".
  13. Imaginative Conservatism: The Letters of Russell Kirk
  14. Washington Court House Record Herald, May 03, 1957, page 4
  15. "No Army - No Navy - No Air Force". The Star (Port St. Joe, Florida). April 5, 1962. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  16. "The John Franklin Letters".
  17. Congressional Record
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