Felix Leiter Has Passed

From an obit for The Original CIA Spymaster. Love this:

Early in his career, Howard showed an astonishing ability to pitch and recruit agents. In one three-year posting, he recruited 33 quality agents. He likened it to seduction, and had a rare talent for spotting junior politicians on the rise, insiders in foreign intelligence agencies and mavericks with unique access to hard targets.

He took up flying gliders to get close enough to pitch one particularly productive agent.

When a coup in Africa overturned a pro-Soviet government, the Soviet ambassador had heart palpitations. Knowing that the diplomat had no access to an EKG, Howard took the U.S. Embassy's machine and went to the Soviet's heavily guarded residential compound, where he administered the test — and pitched the diplomat to spy for the United States. Such exploits earned him the nickname "Give-it-a-Go Bane," a paraphrase of the cables from headquarters OK'ing his more unorthodox agent recruitment proposals.