John Barron, 75 author, reporter

John Barron, 75 author, reporter

John Barron, author of widely acclaimed books on espionage and a prize-winning reporter, died Feb. 24 at Virginia Hospital Center of pulmonary failure. He was 75.

Mr. Barron grew up in Texas, receiving his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Missouri, where he was an honors student. He studied Russian at the Naval Postgraduate School while serving in the Navy, and spent two years in Berlin as a clandestine intelligence officer.

His works on intelligence have been translated into all major languages, and some still are used as textbooks by universities and intelligence schools.

After his Navy service ended in 1957, Mr. Barron worked at the Washington Star, where he won numerous honors, including the Washington Newspaper Guild award of 1964.

During his years as a reporter, he produced a variety of major stories, including the closing of schools in Prince Edward County, Va., to avoid integration and the arrest of Walter Jenkins, national security adviser to President Johnson.

In 1965, he joined the D.C. bureau of Reader’s Digest. More than 100 articles Mr. Barron wrote during his years there included one disputing Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s account of the Chappaquiddick accident in 1969.

In 1969, he directed a worldwide research project that culminated in the 1974 publication of his first book, “KGB: The Secret Work of Soviet Secret Agents.” A best-seller in the United States and Western Europe, the book received critical acclaim.

Michelle Van Cleave, who heads the Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive, a U.S. government interagency counterspy unit, said in a statement that Mr. Barron was an important voice for counterintelligence.

“John Barron’s work on foreign espionage and influence operations enhanced public understanding of the importance of U.S. counterintelligence in the cause of freedom,” Miss Van Cleave said. “His books on the KGB were a landmark in this effort. John will be missed by the counterintelligence community.”

The second of his five books, “Murder of a Gentle Land,” written with Anthony Paul, was the first to expose and document communist genocide in Cambodia.

In 1987, he received an award for Meritorious Public Service from the Justice Department.

Mr. Barron is survived by his wife of 51 years, Pat; two daughters, Lisa Barron of Long Beach, Calif., and Kelly Barron of Los Angeles; two sons-in-law, Rob Vasquez of Long Beach, and John Hage of Los Angeles; and a granddaughter, Olivia Hage of Los Angeles.