Dr. Walter Kendall Myers (not to be confused with noted African American children's author Walter Dean Myers) and his wife Gwendolyn Myers were convicted of espionage against the United States in 2010.

Walter was born into privilege: a direct descendant of Alexander Graham Bell, he also counted Howard Taft among his ancestors. He attended a prestigious private preparatory school, followed by degrees from Brown and Johns Hopkins.

Myers was also deeply flawed. In 1977, he killed a 16 year old pedestrian, Susan Slattery, and severely injured two others, in a drunk driving accident. Because of his privilege, he largely escaped justice.

He also held some bizarre and difficult to understand views about European History and Geopolitics. He was at one point accused of antisemitism with respect to one of his numerous papers, but, to be frank, the paper itself was sufficiently convoluted and unusual as to make any such prejudices uncertain. (The crux of the paper in question was a premise that England and Germany would have made for natural allies in the lead up to World War 2. The confusion is whether this was a condemnation of England or some sort of backhanded praise for Germany.)

However, it is the second half of his life that makes him notable and the topic of our humble megathread.

For approximately 30 years, Walter, with assistance from Gwendolyn, was one of the most prolific spies operating for Cuba in the United States. He is notable both for quantity of information passed, as well as his motives. To the bafflement of most observers and media publications covering his arrest and conviction, the Myers family enjoyed absolutely no benefit--financial or otherwise--from their espionage activities. This is extremely unusual in the world of espionage. Indeed, they undertook tremendous risk and sacrifice for no apparent reason other than they were, to quote numerous publications, "true believers in the Cuban Government, socialism, and the Cuban Revolution." They also are understood to have a deep resentment of the United States.

"I have become so bitter these past few months. Watching the evening news is a radicalizing experience," Myers wrote in his diary, referring to what he described as greedy U.S. oil companies, inadequate health care and "the utter complacency of the oppressed" in America.

The Myers couple had great admiration for Fidel Castro, in particular, describing him as one of history's great leaders. Walter Myers had very high levels of security clearance in his role at the US State Department, and used this role to gather information and secretly pass it to Cuba. It is possible that his efforts may have contributed to the thwarting of several of the "cartoonish" assassination plots against Castro.

In the wake of the revelations about the Myers couple following their arrest, Castro was quoted as saying, "I can't help but admire their disinterested and courageous conduct on behalf of Cuba. Those who in one form or another have helped to protect the Cuban people from the terrorist plans and assassination plots organized by various U.S. administrations have done so at the initiative of their own conscience and are deserving, in my judgment, of all the honors in the world." The former Cuban leader declined to say whether the Myers couple really had passed secrets to the Cuban government, but added that they deserved praise if they did.

Walter and Gwendolyn were convicted of espionage in 2010, at the ages of 72 and 71, respectively. Gwendolyn was sentenced to a prison term of 6-7 years. Walter, however, was sentenced to life imprisonment, and is currently held at the infamous supermax prison ADX Florence, in brutal conditions, alongside such notable inmates as "El Chapo".

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