Just a friendly reminder that you can listen to an excellent interview of me at Pagereaders.com. Just go to and either scroll down until you find the interview or type “floyd perry” into the search bar.

Screenwriter, Scott Z. Burns (who later wrote the screenplay for Bourne Ultimatum, which Matt Damon also starred in), was rumored to have been driving down the road in his car and listening to NPR’s “This American Life” a popular radio program on National Public Radio hosted by Ira Glass.  On September 15, 2000, Glass’s program, “The Fix Is In,” aired.  Mr. Burns is rumored to have been so captivated by what he heard that he pulled his car over to the side of the road to listen to the rest of the radio show without distraction.  The rest, as they say, is history.

In “The Fix Is In,” Mr. Glass interviews (a) Mark Whitacre, who was by then already in prison, (b) Kurt Eichenwald, the former investigative reporter for THE NEW YORK TIMES who wrote THE INFORMANT (Broadway Books, 2000), which became the basis for the screenplay which in turn became the basis for the movie, (c) Robert Herndon, the FBI agent who was one of Whitacre’s handlers, and (d) James Mutschnik, the Chicago-based U.S. Attorney who initially brought the price-fixing case against ADM. Burns allegedly (I have not confirmed it) called his friend Matt Damon and said, “we gotta make a movie out of this.”

Enjoy listening to this fascinating podcast/audio stream here.

He is speaking at a company event in Scottsdale, Arizona, on Monday, September 14th.  The next day, Tuesday, September 15th, he & wife Ginger are scheduled to attend the premiere of the film The Informant! in New York City at the Ziegfield Theater.  If they make it on time, they will walk the red carpet.  Many people are curious to meet the real Mark and Ginger Whitacre.  This will be their first really big coming out.  However, the scheduling is so tight, the distance so great, and the New York traffic so unpredictable that they might not make NY in time for that walk on the red carpet.

By the way, the movie The Informant! is based on an excellent book that was published in 2000 and written by Kurt Eichenwald, the former New York Times journalist. As I have been saying for some time, both the movie and Eichenwald’s book cover but a small slice in time.  By contrast, Mark Whitacre Against All Odds covers the man in full and his wife Ginger and their three children.  The ADM years of Eichenwald’s book comprise only one small part of a much fuller and more interesting 4-part life story of my book.

I’d say buy them both, as well as Jim Lieber’s RATS IN THE GRAIN, to get the full story from A to Z.

Matt Damon, who plays Mark in the film, will of course be at the premiere, as will the rest of the ensemble and a bunch of heavy-hitters from Hollywood. For complete information about the movie and the cast, as well as a trailer, synopsis, and several reviews, see IMDB’s coverage of THE INFORMANT! movie here. The pre-buzz on the film is absolutely terrific.

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