Why?

An overabundance of caution.

The post mentioned my 35th wedding anniversary and talked about where my wife (called Lady X) and I met. Many of the details were previously published in a now-out-of-print novel where the location and people involved were disguised–and, I wasn’t one of the characters.

After the post was up for maybe ten hours, I started worrying about it since the organization where we met still exists and might somehow connect today’s high-quality operation with the old place that was filled with internal politics. Uh oh, could they sue me for a veiled description of things that happened 40 years ago?

The moment from the past that still delights my wife and me is the fact that when I was interviewed for the position, I was told to stay away from Lady X, an individual whom the top brass thought was on the “wrong side” of the political controversy. Ultimately, Lady X and I became “an item” and that shocked those on the top brass’ side of the war.

“What the hell’s happened to Malcolm,” they must have been saying. They had already figured out that I thought the “wrong side” was the “right side.” After they fired me for thinking such things, they must have taken to drink when they found out Lady X and I got married.

So there it is, missing all the unbelievable stuff the stop brass was doing. I’d mention a few examples, such as they tapped my phone, but if I say too much I’ll have to delete this post for the same reason I deleted the first version.

Life is like that. Many of our best secrets have to be classified and not open to the public of, say, a hundred years or so.

—Malcolm

Malcolm R. Campbell is the author of “Special Investigative Reporter,” a satire with true stuff in it that hasn’t gotten me sued yet.