2nd Thoughts of a Double Agent

--Speculation on the defection of double agent Kim Philby has grown over the years, ever since he fled to the Soviet Union from Britain in 1963. Now, Philby, in his first interview with a Western journalist, tells a reporter from the Sunday Times in London about his life in Moscow and discusses whether, in fact, he had done the right thing in fleeing. Philby, 76, the “Third Man” in a Soviet spy ring in the upper reaches of British intelligence from the 1930s, also related his belief that his British intelligence chiefs, fearing a scandal, had pushed him into defecting. He said he was rehired by the British secret service in 1956, five years after suspicions arose over his loyalties to Moscow. “The last thing that the British government wanted was me in London, a security scandal and a sensational trial,” he said. A former chief of Britain’s anti-Soviet service, Philby was made a KGB colonel, but he said he began harboring doubts in 1967, after he became disillusioned with his work. “It appeared the KGB had no idea what my real potential was,” he said. “I felt frustrated and fell into a deep depression, started to drink heavily again and, worst of all, became prone to doubt. Had I done the right thing?” He said he found comfort in discussions with writer Graham Greene, during his visits to Moscow.

--Bill Tucker of San Antonio paid $19,000 for a barrelful of memories--those that come out of the end of a gun. Tucker purchased the single-action .38-caliber Colt revolver once owned by Francisco (Pancho) Villa, the Mexican revolutionary whose daring made him a hero of the masses. “I have a collection of historical firearms, and I consider this one of the most historical pieces in the United States, the state of Texas and the city of San Antonio,” Tucker said. “I plan to put it on display in San Antonio for the world to enjoy.” The gun, with carved ivory grips, was part of the Western memorabilia auction at the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame Museum in Waco.

--Ernest Tope is not your typical successful student. Although he has just won a national education award from the American Assn. for Adult and Continuing Education, Tope, 35, was barely able to read and write in 1975. But since then, when he started a life sentence at the Indiana State Prison for the rape and murder of a teen-age girl, Tope has earned an associate degree from Ball State University and expects to finish another associate degree in May from Purdue University. Tope, now an inmate at the Westville Correctional Center in Indianapolis, was cited as an outstanding adult learner.