SAN FRANCISCO -- The family of W. Mark Felt, the former FBI official whose alter ego as Deep Throat has been revealed, appears ready to cash in on his newfound fame.
Literary agents estimated yesterday that a book deal could be worth up to $1 million. "That is assuming he has a compelling story to tell," said Glen Hartley, president of Writer's Representatives LLC, based out of New York. "A book could easily be valued in the six figures."
As news broke that Felt was indeed the secret source who guided two young Washington Post reporters as they uncovered the Watergate scandal, Felt's family offered to sell family photographs -- the first in an apparent flood of money-making opportunities.
Felt's role in the scandal, which forced the resignation of then-President Nixon, surfaced in an article written for Vanity Fair by a family friend, San Francisco attorney John O'Connor.
He wrote that Felt's daughter Joan, who persuaded her 91-year-old father to go public as "Deep Throat," lamented that the Post's Bob Woodward would get all the credit -- and profit -- if Felt went to the grave with his secret.
"We could make at least enough money to pay some bills like the debt I've run up for the kids' education," she told Felt, according to the article. "Let's do it for the family."
But questions remain about what kind of a story Felt can tell today. He suffered a stroke in 2001 and has been in declining health since.
Additional Information:
Surging interest
Interest in Deep Throat's story seems to be white-hot:
-- The Associated Press
