(For the sake of their own safety and that of their loved
ones, the writers have chosen to move forward in revealing this story under
aliases.)
John Murray: A Vietnam vet, John Murray, later known
as ”Papa,” has spent the majority of his adult life working as
an undercover agent for the U.S., Canadian and various European
governments. During this time, he rose from agent to the head of US Operations.
John was raised in the South by his grandfather
who taught him at an early age how to survive by hunting and fishing,
which all served him well for his future. He firmly believes that if he
had not had the guidance of his grandfather and others who influenced his
life that he never would have survived the ordeals that he did.
John, who enjoyed a very average American
childhood, always wanted to be a ‘normal’ husband and
father, but you’ll eventually understand why that was impossible.
Papa and his crews bore the responsibility of taking
care of much of the world’s evil – evil that could never have come to
the public’s attention.
Now retired, he and his wife are living in a small rural
Western town. As ‘normal’ as he tries to live, he will always be haunted
by the visions of what he saw and what he tried to prevent
or rectify.
Sharon Murray: Sharon is a retired business
executive who has lived in many parts of the US and in Asia. Happily
married to John for over five years, she had no idea about his work until
she experienced his nightmares about the past. After discussions about how
she might help John, he asked Sharon to help him write his memoirs
just as something to leave behind, unpublished. After several years of working
on them, Sharon convinced John it was a story worth telling to the world.
Working
on this project has helped John start to face some of the things he experienced
while trying to be a good guy in a world gone awry.
Abby Jones: This is Jones’ fifth book. She
also writes for numerous magazines. The original manuscript was
handed off to Abby, a friend of Sharon, who has a reputation for her easy,
conversational writing style.
Abby worked with John and Sharon for approximately
eighteen months to make sure John’s voice was never lost in the rewrites.
She notes that both John and Sharon were wonderful to collaborate
with via phone, computer and text. By the way, she has
never met John! Abby currently lives on the West Coast.
She has traveled extensively and lived in many other parts of the US as
well as in Europe.
DescriptionWho’d have thought a bright, but fairly ordinary young man from middle class America who got just above average grades, dated the same girl throughout high school and went to church most Sundays, would grow up to eventually head a very secretive band of brave individuals-- both men and women-- who regularly put their lives on the line because they wanted to protect the rest of you. Yet that;s what we did, often sacrificing our personal lives (four marriages for me, all in the book) and our health (countless broken bones, major surgeries, even death) to do it.
Meanwhile you’re just going to have to call me “Papa” like everyone else around the globe has through most of those wildly unpredictable and dangerous years.
After a lifetime
of working for a secret international group, John Murray finally reveals
his journey with the help of his wife, Sharon, and co-writer Abby. His memoir,
Code Name: Papa – My Extraordinary Life While Hiding in Plain Sight, details his
time within an organization that, while not connected to the US government, operated
with the full blessing of top people in our government.
“With this book,
I hope to educate the public and open up the conversation about what our
country and others have really done on dangerous secret missions to help the
world,” says John Murray (Papa), who deftly tells his fascinating and memorable life
story, laying out facts but leaving it to readers to determine how they feel
about each mission.
The highlighted
missions include the deaths of eight counter covert operators in a major
Las Vegas hotel conference room during a mission that has “stayed in Vegas” until
now; a European mission to save sex slaves from major drug dealers; a successful
all-out effort to save a small European country from takeover, and much more.
These are real
stories, gritty and true—not the fantasy world of James Bond, Scandal, and
others.
How long have you been considering
turning your adventures into a memoir?
Quite honestly, I never considered doing this. But, years after these missions were over, I
continued to have nightmares and night sweats that scared Sharon, my wife of
seven years. She convinced me to tell
her the stories and she’d write them down – then we could put them away. So, I decided to do that. She was shocked about my past life, but
wanted me to share my life’s work with the world. She ran the first chapter or two by a writer
friend, Abby Jones. It was apparent from
the start that we’d make a great team to write and edit together. After eighteen long months, we had a
manuscript. Now we’re finally starting
to work on book # 2 of this planned trilogy.
Did you have to vet any part of
your story through any government agencies?
Well yes, depending on the 'job' that I had to do. Regarding what country we had to work in, out of courtesy the United
States government was always in the loop and gave us abilities to land at
military bases and much more. However, I
had great leeway in what was done and the final say on choosing not to take on
a mission.
I know that sometimes – for the
sake of expediency – several real individuals in a memoir might be bundled into
one character or time might be dilated. Is there any of this in your story?
No, never. One
of the most important things in writing this book was to honor the hard work
and many sacrifices of my team members – many of whom I worked with for
decades. Our readers really become
attached to these wonderful, crazy, self-sacrificing people! The other important thing was to tell our
readers what really happens out there. I
enjoy James Bond and other spy stories, but they are so far from the tough
reality of the lives we lived! No
tuxedos, no champagne, just plain old-fashioned hard work!
Is any portion of the story
fictionalized and if so how much would you estimate that is?
The times and places were sometime changed to a
different area to protect not only ourselves but also to protect
people/countries that were involved.
Yet, some of our mission locations were impossible to change, including
the UK where many local citizens suspected seeing a UFO. Also Las Vegas. As we now say, years after that amazing
mission, what happened in Las Vegas is no longer staying there!
Which locations in your missions
did you enjoy the most and which the least and why?
The only thing that I truly enjoyed was when I got
my crew and myself home safely. Though so many of our missions were difficult
to handle psychologically, the one that disturbs me the most was the Russian
women who were sex slaves and were murdered by the time we got to them. Towing all those empty boats back to our ship
was incredibly difficult. But, many of
our other missions were hard to shake off as well. It definitely took its toll on all of us, on
our marriages, and on our children – none of whom could know what we really did
for a living.
Now that the writing bug has
bitten, will you be writing any straight fiction?
Absolutely
not!!! (laughing) I have complete admiration for people who
write great fiction, so I’m going to leave that job to the experts.
If they ever make your book into a
movie, who should play the character of Papa?
I think Matthew McConaughy would be perfect. If not him, it would have to be someone who
would come across as strong and steady,
who talked things out clearly – not a James Bond type. Gary Sinese also comes
to mind, as does Woody Harrelson. It could be a great and varied roll for
someone to take on. Surprisingly, my
story regularly gets compared to both the TV show “Scandal” and to Navy
S.E.A.L.’s Chris Kyle’s story, “American Sniper”. I appreciate the compliments, but my story is
very different.
Code Name: Papa—My Extraordinary Life while Hiding in
Plain Sight is the first in a planned trilogy. John, Sharon, and Abby are
currently working on the second book, about Papa’s mentor, Amy.
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