Hitz, Frederick P(orter) 1939-

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HITZ, Frederick P(orter) 1939-

PERSONAL: Born 1939, in Washington, DC; son of Frederick Porter and Elizabeth (Hume) Hitz; married Mary Buford Bocock, September 7, 1963; children: Eliza. Education: Princeton University, A.B., 1961; Harvard Law School, J.D., 1965.

ADDRESSES: Home—VA. Office—Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, 016 Bendheim Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544; fax: 609-258-5196. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Knopf Publishing, 1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Author and expert on public and international affairs. University of Ife Law Department, Ibadan, Nigeria, assistant lecturer, 1964-65; U.S. Department of State, Abidjan, Ivory Coast, foreign service officer, 1967-73, Washington, DC, congressional relations officer, 1974-75; U.S. Department of Defense, Washington, deputy assistant secretary of legislative affairs, 1975-77; Executive Office of the President, Washington, member of the energy policy and planning staff, 1977; U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, director of congressional affairs, 1977-78; Central Intelligence Agency, Langley, VA, legislative counsel, 1978-81, inspector general, 1990-98; Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt (law firm), Washington, partner, 1982-90; Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, lecturer in public and international affairs, 1998—.

MEMBER: American Bar Association, Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation, Deer Isle Yacht Club (Maine), Metropolitan Club (Washington, DC, board of governors, 1994-99, secretary, 1995-96, president, 1998-99), Ivy Club (Princeton, NJ, graduate board, 2001).

AWARDS, HONORS: Secretary of Defense Medal for outstanding public service, U.S. Department of Defense, 1977; Distinguished Civilian Service Medal, U.S. Department of Defense, 1978; Distinguished Intelligence Medal, Central Intelligence Agency, 1998.

WRITINGS:

The Great Game: The Myth and Reality of Espionage, Alfred A. Knopf (New York, NY), 2004.

SIDELIGHTS: Frederick P. Hitz, former inspector general of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and later a public and international affairs educator, translates his expertise in the areas of spy fiction and real-life espionage into his debut book, The Great Game: The Myth and Reality of Espionage. A Kirkus Reviews contributor described The Great Game as "a slender but rich—and quite entertaining—introduction to the shadowy world of spy vs. spy."

For more than thirty years, Hitz served the U.S. government in various capacities, including roles as foreign service officer for the U.S. State Department, deputy assistant secretary of legislative affairs for the Department of Defense, director of congressional affairs for the Department of Energy, and legislative counsel for the CIA, culminating with an eight-year term as the CIA's inspector general. In 1998 he retired from public service to become a lecturer in public and international affairs for the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.

The title of Hitz's book is a reference to Nobel laureate Rudyard Kipling's novel Kim, in which Kipling referred to espionage as "the Great Game." At the Woodrow Wilson School, Hitz taught a seminar titled "The Myth and Reality of Espionage: The Spy Novel," in which he contrasted fictional accounts of espionage to real-life operations, and examined ethical issues surrounding espionage. The Great Game is largely based on research presented in Hitz's class, including discussions of the works of Kipling, John le Carré, Frederick Forsyth, Graham Greene, David Ignatius, and other writers of spy fiction.

Reviewing the book in Library Journal, Thomas A. Karel remarked that it was "highly recommended for true espionage fans as well as general readers." Marta Salij of the San Diego Tribune-Review called the book "a hit for the avid spy-fiction fan…. There's a little too much repetition for the general reader, but it does provide a glimpse into real-world spy recruitment, motivation, tradecraft and … gadgetry." Although Peter Wolfe, writing in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, felt that quotes were overused and the text could have used more thorough editing, he pointed to Hitz's "flair for a good yarn and his ability to point a moral…. Hitz is a strong researcher who can turn a nifty phrase."