Monday, September 26, 2011

Great Untold Story: James Angleton's Offspring

James Angleton was the long time head of counter-intelligence for the CIA.  Some say he was paranoid about moles in the CIA; others say he was right. 

Anyway, his widow's obituary was in the Post this morning--sounds as if she was an interesting person in her own right: a history scholar and a poet with several volumes published.  But what struck me was this final paragraph:
Survivors include three children, James C. Angleton of Los Angeles, Guru Sangat Kaur Khalsa of Great Falls and Siri Hari Kaur Angleton-Khalsa [emphasis added]of Espanola, N.M.; two grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
How does one connect these dots, particularly when you throw in the fact that in the CIA, dominated by Ivy Leage WASPs in his time, he was apparently half-Hispanic, albeit a Yalie and a poet?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Angleton's wife and children converted to Sikhism. See, e.g., http://www.architecturaldigest.com/homes/homes/2009/04/edith_katz_article

The children's names (Kaur/Khalsa) are both Sikh surnames, i.e. they are connected with the Faith.

Bill Harshaw said...

Thank you--the Architectural Digest piece adds even more complexity to the story. Wikipedia shows a lot of writing about Angleton, much of it fiction. Wonder how broad a scope they have.

DavidLJ said...

Bill,

Interesting. I had always wanted to meet Angleton, but by the time I got around to asking a mutual friend to get us together for a drink or something it was 1993, and he had been six years dead.

The tit-bit is, the friend I asked was having his house painted the day we were together. The house-painter was a white Anglo-Waspy Sikh. Yer normal average button-down Harvard or Yalie type, only with a turban.

Hmmmm.

-dlj.

Unknown said...

Angleton's wife Cicely was the granddaughter of Chester Congdon, Minnesota mining magnate, attorney and Republican delegate to the national convention back in the 'teens. Built Glensheen Mansion in Duluth on the shores of Lake Superior.