Frances Stonor Saunders dies aged 60 after exposing CIA cultural espionage
Frances Stonor Saunders has died at age 60 from a brain tumour following her career as an author and television producer who revealed CIA-funded cultural operations.
Career beginnings in television
Saunders began her professional life working in the television industry. Her work on a 1995 Channel 4 documentary series regarding abstract expressionism led to her investigation into CIA connections.
Publication of major book
She released the 1999 book Who Paid the Piper? which detailed how the agency used the Congress for Cultural Freedom to fund books and concerts. The text showed that intellectual figures like George Orwell and Hannah Arendt became tools of the American secret service.
Legacy and influence
The book was translated into 17 languages and established Saunders as a leading nonfiction writer of her generation. Former prime minister Gordon Brown noted it inspired him when he took office in 2007.
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