Tonight, on sbrent privacy Cyber Security issues and how to comball recent data breaches. Weve seen attack after attack the most on the office of Personnel Management but also in private industry. Target home depot. So many other private corporations have had customer information stolen. And so what weve realized is is we can try very hard to keep ahead of the hackers but what we need to do is think about how we minimize the need for customers to put their private information on to web sites. Right now there are legal prohibitions from the government sharing classified threat information with the threat sesketor and legal prohibitions from the private sector sharing back with the government termed as being actors of the government. Thats not allowed. What we wanted to do is allow those barriers to be removed so that you could share information on threat signatures very narrowly defined so youre talking about 1, 0, very technical information. But, for example, of the various hacks that have taken place, if we could broadly share that information then when one hack occurs, one place, hopefully at Network Speed we could widely share that vulnerability and so more broadly protect everyone. Tonight at 8 00 eastern. This week on q a, Robert Kurson discusses his book, pirate hunters and the search for the ship the Golden Fleece sunk off the coast of the Dominican Republic in the 1680s. The captain, Joseph Bannister, was a respected merchant captain before he stole the Golden Fleece and became a pirate. Robert kurson also talked about his work as a journalist and author. Brian Robert Kurson, author of pirate hunters, here for the third time. This is your third book. Before we talk about pirate hunters, i want you to tell us about your father and his storytelling. Robert my father was the single greatest storyteller i have ever known. He owned his own motorcycle paints and lubricants business when we were young. Sometimes he had decent years, sometimes he didnt. But he functioned as its sole traveling salesman. So, he was on the road for nine or 10 months out of the year by car. We grew up feeling like we knew him, did not grow up feeling fatherless. My dad would call me out of school. Sometimes for weeks at a time can you imagine such a dream for a kid . And he would take me on business trips across the United States. And it was all by car, all over the United States. So, by the time i was eight or nine, i had been to all 48 continental states by car to industrial parks. I knew more about Oil Viscosity and hightemp paint than any eightyearold in the country. But, we would pass the time during these long stretches by telling stories. He would tell me madeup stories, true stories, sometimes a mixture of each. He was the single greatest weaver of yarns you could imagine. There was always one condition if he told you a story, you told him one. Brian can you remember one of his stories . Robert he had a series of stories about two fictional bad boys named marvin and arvin. These two guys would get into all kinds of trouble. But, if you can imagine a story about two very bad boys who missed a lot of school and went on trips with their very bad father, these stories could stretch from state to state. The chapters would often run interstate. And, they were terrific stories. Later on, he would tell me true stories about buying a copper mine when he graduated from college, and his adventures in mexico running a copper mine as a 22yearold kid. I could listen to these for weeks at a time. Brian do you have brothers and sisters . Robert i have a sister that is 1. 5 years younger than i am and a brother who is five years younger. Brian your mom was a storyteller . Robert wonderful storyteller. That is part of what they loved about each other and had in common. The thing about both of them is that they were sensitive people and noticed everything. Their entire worlds they saw were in shades of gray. There was no black and white. They would notice things that made others sad or could affect others emotionally that no one else seemed to see. They would say, look closely. See that person . That person is suffering inside or does not know what to do. At first glance, that person would look like anyone else. But when they told you what to look for, see how their eyes are moving, they noticed everything. That was at the bottom of what made their stories great. Brian do you notice everything . Robert i try to notice everything, and it is a doubleedged sword. When you grow up with two people who notice everything, you start to notice things yourself, but they include the sad and happy things. It is a vibrant world you live in when you notice, but it can be upsetting sometimes too. Brian we have not talked about this but you have talked about the difficulties you had in high school. You got ds and fs. Robert i was a very poor student, ranked 606 out of 660 in my class in northbrook, illinois. It looked very bad for me. The safety schools others were applying to were my first choices, and i did not even get into those. My guidance counselor at my high school advised me not to even bother with college or Even Community college. Rather to enroll in the peace corps. I was so naive, i did not know what the peace corps was. It was looking bad for me at age 18. Brian what was the problem you had with high school and some of the kids in high school had with you . Robert i had moved a few days before high school started. I went from a solidly middleclass neighborhood to a very upperclass neighborhood. I did not quite fit in right away and never connected with the kids. There was some kind of dysfunction happening at home, too, that was difficult on me emotionally. All of the factors came together in a confluence of circumstances that did not make for a productive four years there. Brian was that dysfunction between your mother and father . Robert they had a troubled marriage at that point, even though they loved and admired each other. But my mother was suffering a little bit emotionally at the time. It was not the most stable household. It was interesting. I do not think there was anyone in the history of my high school that did as poorly as i did academically but was in no trouble whatsoever. I did not do any drugs. I did not drink a single beer. Nothing like that. I did not miss any school. I was just hurting in a certain way brian we talked before about you went to the university of wisconsin, studied philosophy, didnt like it. Went to Harvard Law School practice law for a while, didnt like it. Then you got into the writing business. One of the things that got you attention was my favorite teacher, an article for esquire. robert it was about the biology teacher at Glenbrook High School in northbrook, illinois, who was a very kind, gentle man. He seemed to see the loneliness in others walking around. Especially in students. And there were plenty of lonely students, more than i really realized at the time for job there were those of us that felt disconnected from everything and were having trouble at home, felt lonely in the world. He seemed to see that in us. He noticed everything too. He was very kind to the lost souls of the school. Where everyone seemed to have it made, at least on the surface. And people gravitated towards him and trusted him. He was not just the biology teacher he was also the athletic trainer. I would see him in the locker room, taping up members of the Football Team and things like that. But it turned out, one day, he did not come to school. There was an announcement he would not be there. By that time, all the radio and tv in chicago was announcing his arrest for the murder and rape of the son of a chicago policeman. It turns out it was not his first kidnapping and abduction. He had a sophisticated way of picking up hitchhikers. He had tried to stop himself and resigned his post because he intended to go after his own students. And so, on the 20th anniversary, i always thought about him, as disturbing as that might sound i thought of him fondly, and i always wondered how that might happen to such a gentle man. Such a kind man. I went and found him in prison. I asked him all of the questions i had been wondering for 20 years. He was serving a life sentence. Brian what was he like . Robert as gentle and nice as i remembered him. He was remorseful, as he always had been. I had read court transcripts. He explained terrible things had gone wrong with him. He had a rare genetic disorder with an extra chromosome, i believe. He developed in certain ways physiologically, as a woman. It was a very complex, complicated situation. But he knew what he was doing and that it was getting worse and worse. He had resigned his position and he had planned to take himself into the wilderness in montana so far that he could never do these things again. But this thing got away from him and he was finally caught and sentenced. Brian i calculate he would be 71 today. Is he still alive . Robert i believe he is still alive. I saw him twice in prison. After our second visit, he cut off contact. But i learned one of the students he may have had his eye on was me. Myself. And that is sort of the theme at the end of the story that i wrote. Brian did you feel it at the time, that he was after you . Robert no, it felt just the opposite. With him alone, it felt that you were safe, and the entire world was a threat to a 14yearold kid that was displaced and the one safe place. I was lonely and felt there was nowhere to go. That was the one safe place, in his presence. Brian what was the process that you wanted to write about for esquire magazine . Robert when i told the editors about the story, they felt it was compelling. Especially the part about my involvement were important. When i went to write the story i believed that good writers should be like good umpires invisible. When you get to the end, you havent noticed them. So, i took the personal part out of the story. My editor, mike warren, said that is the most important part. Put it back in. That is what you told me the first time. When i put myself back into the story, that is when the story came together and resonated for people. Brian what happened after that story . What recognition did you get . Your first book was in 2004. Was any of that related . Robert it really launched my writing career in terms of magazines and books. It was the first story i had written and became a finalist for the National Magazine award. I got a lot of attention and interest from agents. Brian what did your wife think . Robert she was very happy for me and very supportive. You know when you decide i used to be a lawyer and had better Career Prospects at the time than i had jumping into writing. But she was behind me the entire way. I could not have done it without her. She believed in me. Brian did you have rough times in the beginning as a writer 2000 and that time period, where you did not have the money to live on . I mean, was it ever difficult for you . Robert it was hard to live on but i made a vow at law school that i would not get the golden handcuffs put on me. A lot of people i went to law school vowed, we will not make our living as lawyers. It just seemed a deadening profession, in certain ways. But the thing we all talked about was, do not get the mortgage, the bmw. Do not bury yourself in debt. Because that was how you got trapped. The one thing i am so grateful i stuck to was that promise. I did not have high overhead. I had a wife who said, no matter what you are making, if you come home every day, i am happy. Brian your first book sold 600,000 copies at that point. How many more has shadow divers sold since then . Robert i think it is closing in on a million now. Many languages, about 22 languages. It has done very well. Brian lets bring the audience uptodate. Lets show a little of that interview from 2004. [video clip] robert a friend told me about the story originally it sounded too unbelievable to be true two new jersey recreational divers finding a german lost uboat off the new jersey coast. I could not believe it. It started from there. Brian once someone gave you the idea, what did you do then . Robert i got on the phone with the divers, the two principal divers behind the story, and asked them, could this be true . They said, not only is it true it is even more than that. I asked if i could see them and they agreed, and i was on my way. Brian who were the divers . Robert John Chatterton and Richie Kohler. Bus new jersey residents who had made this amazing discovery. Brian you lost a lot of weight. Robert i was chubby then. Brian how did you do that . Robert i had a doctor tell me i was one step away from diabetes. My dad died from being overweight and diabetic. This was five or six years ago. I have two young boys of my own. I remember how painful it was to watch my dad die in front of me. Unable to do anything about his weight problem. I did not want to inflict that on my family. Brian is mom alive . Robert she died recently. A year and a half ago. She was a great admirer of yours and had hopes for me. I am grateful she lived to see me have some success. Brian lets go back to the millionseller. What impact did it have on your life . Robert it changed everything. The thing it really did for me is it gave me enough Financial Security to take a chance on writing other kinds of books that interested me. I did not need to follow up with a nautical adventure, which is what people were expecting. I was able to take a risk in my next project. It also allowed me to take my time. So that if i needed to find the right story or do something over, i did not feel pressured to rush something. That is a very big gift for a writer. Brian economically, in 2004 this book is selling so well, is everything settled down . You dont have to worry about it anymore . Robert for the first time, it is settled down. My wife is an attorney. I made one promise in life do not marry an attorney. Luckily, i broke that. So she is contributing to the family and was finding her way at that time too. That was a nice transition point for us as a family. Brian one of the characters in shadow divers, John Chatterton, is in the current book. The second book you wrote was crashing through. Here is our interview in 2007. [video clip] brian how did you find mike may . How old was he . Robert at the time, he was 50 or 51yearsold. The only mention of mike may was that he had gained division from he had gained vision from a very a rare and revolutionary stem cell transplant. There was no mention of his emotional state. And so, i had to know what this person had gone through and what his life was like. And so basically, i just looked up his name and phone number found him in davis, california and introduced myself. I was ready to hear someone that sounded to be on the verge of suicide. All these cases are filled with reports of suicidal thoughts clawing at the eyes, fury at the surgeons who cured them. Reverting to dark rooms and blindfolds. And in the best documented case, the person was so disappointed in the visual world, he gave up and died. So, i expected to hear someone in desperate straits. Instead, the person sounded extraordinarily busy. I introduced myself, told him i had read about the cases, and had to know about his life. He politely told me, no, thanks, i am too busy. I do not give up easily, so i kept bothering him. He finally agreed to see me. Brian mike may could not see, and you told the story of how he was operated on and learned to see. Have you been in touch . Robert i saw him on friday in san francisco. He is an amazing guy. His eyes are perfect. They work perfectly. But, his brain will always be the issue. Some things he can do expertly he can sink free throw after free throw, he can catch a ball, ride a bike. But if you do not tell him, he might step off a 20th floor balcony, because he cannot judge depth. But he is always learning shortcuts, and he is always training his brain to see around limitations. Brian in 2007, you said he could not see faces. Can he see them now . Robert he cannot see them any better than he did the first time around. If he were sitting as close as you and i and his wife were across the table, he would not know her unless she spoke. So, he has facial blindness. His eyes can see the face perfectly, but he cannot recognize faces. They have no meaning to him. Brian how did the book do . Robert i do not know the figures. It did not do what shadow divers did. I was afraid of that. But as i said, i was so grateful to branch out and do something that was not necessarily expected after the first book. And, i love that book. It has meant a lot to a lot of people. Brian we have talked, in both cases, about movies being made. Did a movie ever get made of either book . Robert no, and they are still working on the shadow divers movie 10 or 11 years later. I was so innocent and signed a deal and calculated that it would take three months to find actors, about 10 months until the premiere. Well, here we are 10 years later, and they are still developing shadow divers. brian what about crashing through . Robert it does not look like it now. They worked on it for years at the same studio. Several different writers and producers, but it did not seem to work out. Brian lets go to the new book pirate hunters. the first thing i want to ask you about is why senator john mccain endorsed this book. Robert he is a man of adventure and i think a man who appreciates risktakers and brave souls. Brian does he have the same publisher . Robert i do not think so. Brian did you ask him to do this . Robert i did not, but he endorsed shadow divers. the first time around. And, im not sure how that happened either. Actually, i do know. He had the same publisher 10 years ago. I think that is how we made an initial connection. But i was flattered the first time and even more grateful this time around. Brian there is video on the website promoting the book. Lets start the process by looking at part of the trailer. [video clip] Joseph Bannister is the only pirate in history to fight the british navy to a standstill. Not one, but two royal navy frigates. This is unheard of. Pirates ran and hightailed it. He actually fired the first shot. Robert i was working on another book idea when the phone rang. The person on the other end did not introduce themselves. They just said, do you like pirates . I knew the voice right away. It was John Chatterton, th