BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Chicago Cultural Alliance - ECPv6.16.2//NONSGML v1.0//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
X-WR-CALNAME:Chicago Cultural Alliance
X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://www.chicagoculturalalliance.org
X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Chicago Cultural Alliance
REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H
X-Robots-Tag:noindex
X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:America/Chicago
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0600
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:CDT
DTSTART:20240310T080000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0600
TZNAME:CST
DTSTART:20241103T070000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0600
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:CDT
DTSTART:20250309T080000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0600
TZNAME:CST
DTSTART:20251102T070000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0600
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:CDT
DTSTART:20260308T080000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0600
TZNAME:CST
DTSTART:20261101T070000
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20250729T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20250729T190000
DTSTAMP:20260526T010527
CREATED:20250606T212449Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250606T212449Z
UID:10008002-1753812000-1753815600@www.chicagoculturalalliance.org
SUMMARY:Author Talk: "The Invisible Spy" by Thomas Maier (ONLINE)
DESCRIPTION:Author\, television producer\, and former Chicago Sun-Times journalist Thomas Maier visits the American Writers Museum to discuss his new book The Invisible Spy. It is the untold WWII story of Ernest Cuneo\, a former NFL player turned White House insider who worked with Churchill’s undercover agents in New York City to conduct the biggest foreign spy operation ever within the US and how Cuneo later helped inspire Ian Fleming’s James Bond. The Invisible Spy has been praised by The Wall Street Journal and selected in April as an Amazon Editors’s Best Book in History. \nAs an award-winning author and journalist\, Maier will also talk about how his previous books were translated into primetime television shows—Showtime’s Emmy-winning Masters of Sex and Paramount’s Mafia Spies\, both praised by The New York Times. \nThis is the livestream of an in person program at the American Writers Museum. When you register for this event\, you will receive access to the livestream link. If you would like to attend the program in person at the AWM\, get your tickets here. \nMore about The Invisible Spy: \nAs a tough but smart Italian American kid\, Ernest Cuneo played Ivy League football at Columbia University and was in the old Brooklyn Dodgers NFL franchise before becoming a city hall lawyer and “Brain Trust” aide to President Roosevelt. He was on the payroll of national radio columnist Walter Winchell and mingled with the famous and powerful. But his status as a spy remained a secret\, hiding in plain sight. \nDuring this time\, Cuneo began a close friendship with British spy Ian Fleming and helped inspire Fleming’s James Bond novels. He also began a love affair with one of Churchill’s agents at Rockefeller Center—Margaret Watson\, a beautiful Canadian woman with a photographic memory ideal for spycraft. In one nighttime attack\, Watson was nearly smothered to death by a Nazi assassin inside her women’s dormitory near Rockefeller Center. Cuneo’s transformation from a gridiron athlete into a high-stakes intelligence go-between and political influencer is one of the great untold stories of American espionage. He has remained “invisible” in the public eye—until now\, with this unveiled look into his life. \nFrom the bestselling author and producer of two hit TV series\, Mafia Spies and Masters of Sex\, Thomas Maier delves into the little-known tales behind the Rockefeller Center spy operation and the origins of American intelligence. The Invisible Spy weaves Cuneo’s remarkable personal story with vivid insights about many top twentieth-century figures\, including Churchill\, FDR and later JFK. Full of action and fascinating characters\, this untold history reveals how Cuneo\, as America’s first WWII spy\, helped the British launch a covert campaign against Nazi conspirators hidden in America\, an espionage war unbeknownst to many.
URL:https://www.chicagoculturalalliance.org/event/author-talk-the-invisible-spy-by-thomas-maier-online/
LOCATION:Virtual\, Chicago\, IL\, United States
CATEGORIES:Exhibitions and Gallery Events,Talks and Gatherings
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.chicagoculturalalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Spy-Online.png
GEO:41.8781136;-87.6297982
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR