Lyle Hugh Munson (?- ) was an intelligence agent''Life-Lines'', volume 14, 1972
/ref> 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". Robert W. Welch Jr., the head of the

John Birch Society The John Birch Society (JBS) is an American right-wing political advocacy group. Founded in 1958, it is anti-communist, supports social conservatism, and is associated with ultraconservative, radical right, far-right, or libertarian ideas. T ...

, considered him a "good friend".''The Blue Book of The John Birch Society'' (Fifth Edition)
By Robert Welch Munson's advice to the Austrian economist

Ludwig von Mises Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises (; 29 September 1881 – 10 October 1973) was an Austrian School economist, historian, logician, and sociologist. Mises wrote and lectured extensively on the societal contributions of classical liberalism. He is ...

for the author to threaten

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...

Press to take ''

Human Action ''Human Action: A Treatise on Economics'' is a work by the Austrian economist and philosopher Ludwig von Mises. Widely considered Mises' ''magnum opus'', it presents the case for laissez-faire capitalism based on praxeology, his method to under ...

'' to another publisher because of delays caused it to rush out its flawed second edition.

Intelligence

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

Bookmailer

During the 29 years of its existence, Bookmailer published around fifty books on its own, in addition to distributing books published by small publishers. They were based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, changing offices after an April 18, 1961 burglary. In 1964, they moved to

Linden, New Jersey Linden is a city in southeastern Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the New York Metropolitan Area, located about southwest of Manhattan and bordering Staten Island, a borough of New York City, across the Arthur Kill ...

.''Publishers Weekly'', Volume 186 (1964) page 59
/ref>Tactics, Volume 6, Issue 9
20 September 1969 The company was 20% owned by P. C. Beezley. Sales circa 1960 were about 200,000 volumes per year, and grew to around 2 million in 1961 off of a wave of interest in anti-communist material. Employees included Herbert Romerstein, later director of the U.S. Information Agency's Office to Counter Soviet Disinformation under the

Reagan administration Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following a landslide victory over ...

. According to

Russell Kirk Russell Amos Kirk (October 19, 1918 – April 29, 1994) was an American political theorist, moralist, historian, social critic, and literary critic, known for his influence on 20th-century American conservatism. His 1953 book ''The Conservativ ...

, Bookmailer advertising was turned down by conservative journal ''

Modern Age The term modern period or modern era (sometimes also called modern history or modern times) is the period of history that succeeds the Middle Ages (which ended approximately 1500 AD). This terminology is a historical periodization that is appli ...

'' because his advertising agent had a Jewish name.Imaginative Conservatism: The Letters of Russell Kirk
/ref>

Books published

*''Attack by Mail" *''Communism and Your Child'' by Herbert Romerstein *''Court of Public Opinion'' by

Alger Hiss Alger Hiss (November 11, 1904 – November 15, 1996) was an American government official accused in 1948 of having spied for the Soviet Union in the 1930s. Statutes of limitations had expired for espionage, but he was convicted of perjury in co ...

''Washington Court House Record Herald'', May 03, 1957, page 4
/ref> *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 *'' The John Franklin Letters'' (inspiration for ''

The Turner Diaries ''The Turner Diaries'' is a 1978 novel by William Luther Pierce, published under the pseudonym Andrew Macdonald. It depicts a violent revolution in the United States which leads to the overthrow of the federal government, a nuclear war, and, ...

'') *''Major Jordan's Diaries'' by George Racey Jordan with Richard L. Stokes (reprint edition) *''The World's Most Orphaned Nation'' by Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty * A volume of speeches by US Senator

Thomas J. Dodd Thomas Joseph Dodd (May 15, 1907 – May 24, 1971) was an American attorney and diplomat who served as a United States Senator and Representative from Connecticut. He is the father of former U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd and Thomas J. Dodd Jr., ...

Congressional Record
/ref>

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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Munson, Lyle 1974 deaths