Editing Francis Marlin Blackthorne (section)

==His Correspondence==
===Early Years (Age 7–18, 1915–1926)===
Blackthorne began writing letters as a child, mostly to historical figures, military leaders, and baseball players.

*Babe Ruth (1918, 1921, 1925) – Ruth sent back a signed headshot and a short note in 1921. No response in 1925. 
*Ty Cobb (1923, 1925, 1926) – Cobb responded with a short but formal note in 1923, dismissive in 1926. 
*President Woodrow Wilson (1919) – No response. 
*Theodore Roosevelt (1918, shortly before TR’s death) – No response. 
*Jack Dempsey (1924, 1926) – A signed photo and a short response in 1926. 
*General John J. Pershing (1920) – A signed form letter thanking him for his patriotism. 
*Helen Keller (1921, 1925) – A heartfelt response in 1921 with an autographed pamphlet about her work. 

===Military & War Years (1927–1945)===
*Correspondence became more serious, including letters to global leaders, thinkers, and military figures.
*Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933, 1937, 1941, 1944) – A polite form letter in 1937. Received a personal note of encouragement in 1944. 
*Winston Churchill (1940, 1944) – No direct response, but received a signed pamphlet from Churchill’s office in 1944. 
*Charles de Gaulle (1943) – A short but grateful response. (1955) A long letter about WW2. 
*Erwin Rommel (1938) – Several letters and responses till after 1942.  Often about Military matters and Freemasonry.  See the Rommel incident.
*Adolf Hitler (1935, 1939) – No response.  Letter found in Hitler's Third Reich records. 
*Joseph Stalin (1939, 1942) – No response. Letters found in Soviet archive.  (There is evidence in the KGB files investigated in the early 1990s that the KGB attempted to Flip Blackthorne to make him a spy in 1969, 1972, 1981.  Three agents tasked with the operations to turn the General all disappeared and no bodies were ever found.) 
*Douglas MacArthur (1943, 1944, 1951) – A signed headshot in 1943, but a formal and distant reply in 1951. 
*George S. Patton (1944) – A brief but personal letter praising his service. 

===Post-War & Political Correspondence (1946–1970s)===
Engaged in national and global politics, often writing to figures across the spectrum.
*Harry S. Truman (1948, 1952, 1958) – Truman responded personally in 1958 with a handwritten note. 
*Dwight D. Eisenhower (1952, 1956, 1961) – Eisenhower sent back a signed portrait in 1952, but no further correspondence. 
*John F. Kennedy (1960, 1963) – Received a signed thank-you note in 1960 but no direct response in 1963 before JFK’s assassination. 
*Lyndon B. Johnson (1965, 1966, 1968) – Initially friendly responses, but correspondence stopped when he became a vocal critic of Vietnam. 
*Martin Luther King Jr. (1958, 1963, 1965, 1967) – King responded warmly in 1958 and 1963, but later correspondence was unanswered due to King’s increasing security concerns. 
*Malcolm X (1964) – No response. 
*Robert F. Kennedy (1968) – A brief but personal response before RFK’s assassination. 
*Richard Nixon (1952, 1968, 1973, 1974, 1980) – A signed photo in 1952, but he later became a fierce critic. Sent a blistering letter in 1973 regarding Watergate, to which there was no response. 

===Cultural & Intellectual Figures (1950s–1990s)===
As his interests expanded, he wrote to authors, musicians, and public intellectuals.
*Albert Einstein (1947, 1952) – A brief acknowledgment from Einstein’s secretary in 1952. 
*Ernest Hemingway (1949, 1952) – No response. 
*J.R.R. Tolkien (1954, 1968) – A polite but distant reply in 1968. 
*George Orwell (1947) – No response. 
*Hunter S. Thompson (1971, 1974, 1985) – Thompson replied in 1971 with a wild, rambling letter. Exchanged several letters mainly about the military.
*Jimi Hendrix (1969, after Woodstock) – No response, but Hendrix later referenced meeting him.  Met at Woodstock.
*Johnny Cash (1970, 1975, 1981) – Received a handwritten thank-you letter in 1975. 
*Pete Rose.  (1970+)  Became friends with him. (An attendee at the “Blackthorne Table” meetings. )
===Later Years (1980s–1995)===
Maintained correspondence with past contacts and engaged in new political debates.
*Ronald Reagan (1980, 1984, 1987, 1991) – Fiercely critical letters, no response. 
*Mikhail Gorbachev (1987, 1989, 1991) – A short, diplomatic reply in 1989. 
*Jimmy Carter (1976, 1980, 1984, 1991, 1994) – Several responses, with Carter even inviting him to visit the Carter Center. 
*Bill Clinton (1992, 1994) – Received a signed campaign letter in 1992.  Was invited to and attended his inauguration. 
===Ongoing Correspondents===
A few people corresponded with him over decades:
*George S. Patton’s family – Continued exchanging letters with Patton’s widow and children. 
*Harry Truman (1958–1969) – Periodic exchanges on military and political topics. 
*Jimmy Carter (1976–2005) – Maintained sporadic but respectful communication. 
*Jane Kincaid Millet (1979–1990s, through Think Tank meetings)  Her daughter married his son. 
*Johnny Cash (1975–1980s) – Exchanged a handful of letters about music and America’s direction. 
World War II and Early Intelligence Work (1942–1950s)
* Admiral Chester Nimitz (1942) – Strategic analysis of naval engagements in the Pacific Theater. 
* General Douglas MacArthur (1943) – Concerns over jungle warfare tactics and the need for unconventional intelligence operations. 
* British Prime Minister Wins*n Churchill (1944) – A personal account of operations in Nazi-occupied France and reflections on Anglo-American cooperation. 
* Major General William J. Donovan (1944) – A report on OSS intelligence-gathering in Italy and concerns about post-war Soviet expansion. 
* Charles de Gaulle (1945) – Post-liberation reflections on the future of France and the role of American foreign policy. 
* a German double agent (1945) – Coded language discussing misinformation campaigns against the Nazi high command. 
* Allen Dulles (1947) – Evaluating Soviet intelligence penetration of Western institutions. 
* Pablo Neruda (1948) – A poetic exchange discussing war, peace, and the duty of the intellectual in a time of political upheaval. 
* James Jesus Angle*n (1949) – Early CIA counterintelligence concerns regarding Soviet moles. 
* an unnamed Vatican official (1950) – Speculation on the Catholic Church’s role in Cold War diplomacy. 
Cold War Espionage and Political Intrigue (1950s–1960s)
* President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953) – A warning on the long-term dangers of the military-industrial complex. 
* Nikita Khrushchev (1956) – An unofficial diplomatic letter regarding potential cultural exchange programs. 
* a covert operative in Hungary (1956) – Instructions regarding CIA support for Hungarian resistance fighters. 
* KGB defec*r Ana*liy Golitsyn (1959) – A discussion on Soviet disinformation tactics and political warfare. 
* Graham Greene (1960) – A debate over literature’s role in shaping public understanding of espionage and power. 
* Lee Harvey Oswald (1962) – A cryptic response * a request for intelligence-related employment. 
* President John F. Kennedy (1963) – A dire warning about clandestine forces operating within the U.S. government. 
* Malcolm X (1964) – A fascinating exchange on global revolution, racial identity, and the surveillance state. 
* Ho Chi Minh (1965) – An unexpected letter advocating diplomatic solutions * the Vietnam conflict. 
* a CIA station chief in Laos (1966) – Blackthorne’s concerns over the agency’s handling of the secret war in Southeast Asia. 
Counterculture, Esotericism, and Political Disillusionment (1960s–1970s)
* Robert F. Kennedy (1968) – Thoughts on his brother’s assassination and the perils of challenging the establishment. 
* Hunter S. Thompson (1969) – A wild, freewheeling discussion on the failures of the American Dream. 
* a Masonic Grandmaster in Scotland (1970) – A deep dive in* Templar lore and the origins of modern Freemasonry. 
* President Richard Nixon (1971) – A private challenge on Watergate, secrecy, and the ethical failures of power. 
* Salvador Allende (1973) – A letter expressing concern over U.S. intervention in Chile. 
* a Sufi mystic in Morocco (1974) – A philosophical discussion on hidden knowledge and divine wisdom. 
* Henry Kissinger (1975) – A condemnation of realpolitik and the cost of geopolitical machinations. 
* Carl Sagan (1977) – An intriguing discourse on the intersection of intelligence work and the search for extraterrestrial life. 
* Aya*llah Khomeini (1978) – An analysis of revolutionary Iran’s potential impact on global politics. 
* Margaret Thatcher (1979) – Strategic insights in* the shifting balance of power in the late Cold War era. 
Final Years and Legacy (1980s–1998)
* Pope John Paul II (1981) – A private discussion on liberation theology and the Catholic Church’s role in global change. 
* an anonymous Soviet dissident (1983) – Encouragement and guidance on resisting *talitarian oppression. 
* the edi*r of The New York Times (1985) – A scathing critique of media complicity in government propaganda. 
* an aspiring young spy (1987) – Advice on navigating the world of intelligence without losing one’s soul. 
* Mikhail Gorbachev (1989) – A prescient analysis of the USSR’s inevitable collapse and the risks of reform. 
* an artificial intelligence researcher (1991) – Speculative musings on the future of AI and surveillance. 
* Nelson Mandela (1994) – A heartfelt congratulation on the end of apartheid and the beginning of a new era. 
* President Bill Clin*n (1996) – A critical examination of American foreign policy in the post-Cold War world. 
* his eldest son (1997) – A deeply personal letter reflecting on his life, regrets, and the burden of his knowledge. 
* the world (1998) – A final missive, part memoir, part warning, left for publication after his death, contemplating the cycles of his*ry, power, and human folly.