Wife, Mother, Spy - An Extraordinary Life Filled with Ordinary Days

Many mothers shuttle their kids to dance lessons and sports practice, coordinate playdates, read bedtime stories, and struggle to get dinner on the table after a long day at the office. Very few do all this while secretly meeting with spies, carrying a purse retrofitted to conceal a Glock, and tasked with protecting the security of the United States. For several decades, this was the life of Ann Butler - wife, mother of five, and operations operative for the CIA.

From New York to Paris to Sarajevo, from Northern Africa to Central Europe, Wife, Mother, Spy provides a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse of the rewarding, chaotic, exhausting, often challenging, but always exciting life of a CIA spy who also happens to be a wife and mother.

Juggling parenthood, aliases, transatlantic moves every few years with five children and a dog, and going into labor during a clandestine meeting isn't for the faint of heart. But with determination, a sense of humor, and unflappable optimism, Butler takes readers along on an inspiring journey that knits together a life full of the dailiness, hopes, and fears all parents share with an exhilarating career few can imagine.

Author: Ann E. Butler
Publisher: Aeb Associates
Published: 12/25/2024
Pages: 242
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.62lbs
Size: 8.00h x 5.25w x 0.55d
ISBN: 9798991293303

About the Author
Butler, Ann E.: - "Ann Elizabeth Butler was born in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and grew up in Endicott, New York with her parents and three brothers. At Union-Endicott High School, Ann was editor of the yearbook, played clarinet in the marching and concert bands, often went to Greek Peak with the ski club, and was active in the French and Key Clubs. She majored in Economics at the University of Notre Dame, spending her sophomore year abroad in Angers, France at L'Université Catholique de l'Ouest. After graduation, Ann received a Rotary Scholarship to study in Belgium and obtained a Master's in International Trade from l'Université de l'Etat à Mons. In 1986, Ann began a 27-year-long career as an undercover Operations Officer in the Clandestine service of the Central Intelligence Agency. Early on, while working full time, Ann attended evening classes at George Washington and earned an MBA with a concentration in International Business. Before moving down to Washington, DC to start her new career, Ann met Joseph Potak, to whom she has now been married for 36 years. They have five children together: Claire, Kyle, Eric, Alexis, and Katrina. Ann's work with the CIA required her family to move every few years to a different city, country, or continent. Her mission was simple -recruit spies and collect intelligence, to help protect the United States. Ann Butler has spent her life striving to find the balance between being a wife, a mother, and a spy. Her story is full of both very challenging as well as very rewarding moments. Now, she has written them all down. With her memoir, Wife, Mother, Spy, she wants others to read herstory and know that although it's not easy - they too can have it all."