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50 interesting facts about Valerie Plame uncovered.
1. Is a former career covert CIA operations officer.
2. Worked to protect America's national security and prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, in particular nuclear weapons.
3. Plame met her husband while she worked for CIA.
4. Plame was unable to reveal her CIA role to her future husband on their first date therefore she told him that she was an energy trader in Brussels.
5. Worked at a clothing store while awaiting results of her application to the CIA.
6. After graduating from Penn State in 1985, Plame was married to Todd Sesler, her college boyfriend. Couple divorced.
7. As child she loved puzzles and dolls.
8. Plame's paternal grandfather was Jewish, the son of a rabbi who emigrated from Ukraine.
9. The original family surname was "Plamevotski".
10. She was unaware of her grandfather's ancestry until she was an adult.
11. Her father was a lieutenant colonel in the United States Air Force.
12. She is the author of the New York Times best-selling memoir Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House.
13. She likes sales.
14. Fair Game was released as a major motion picture of the same name starring Sean Penn and Naomi Watts.
15. Her husband is retired U.S. Ambassador Joe Wilson.
16. Wilson's marriage to Plame is his third.
17. Her father worked for the National Security Agency for three years.
18. While a student at Penn State, she joined Pi Beta Phi sorority and worked for the business division of the Daily Collegian student newspaper.
19. She speaks English, French, German, and Greek.
20. Her husband is author of the New York Times bestseller, The Politics of Truth.
21. Is mother of twins, Trevor Rolph Wilson, Samantha Finnell Diana Wilson.
22. Narrated and appeared in the critically acclaimed documentary on the dangers of nuclear proliferation, Countdown to Zero.
23. Is an active member of the Global Zero Leadership board.
24. Does extensive public speaking throughout the country on various issues including nuclear proliferation and the role of women in intelligence.
25. Has written for Newsweek, CNN, The Daily Beast, The Huffington Post, The Guardian.
26. Her middle name is Elise.
27. Works as the Director of Community Outreach at the Santa Fe Institute, a nonprofit research think tank that promotes multidisciplinary collaboration in the sciences, and is a consultant to Warner Brothers TV.
28. Serves on the boards of United Way of Santa Fe County, Penn State School of International Affairs, Postpartum Support International.
29. Is deeply involved in local public school reform.
30. Professionally and socially, she has used variants of her name.
31. Is a very smart woman! She has a Bachelor's degree from the Pennsylvania State University and graduate degrees from the London School of Economics and the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium.
32. Her husband already had twins with his first wife.
33. Was accepted into the 1985-86 CIA officer training class and began her training for what would become a twenty-year career with the Agency.
34. Plame served the CIA at times as a non-official cover (or NOC), operating undercover in (at least) two positions in Athens and Brussels.
35. One project in which she was involved was ensuring that Iran did not acquire nuclear weapons.
36. Fair Game movie is based on two books, one written by Plame, and the other by her husband.
37. In May 2011, it was announced that Plame would author a series of spy novels with mystery writer Sarah Lovett. The first book in the series, titled Blowback, was released on October 1, 2013, by Blue Rider Press, an imprint of the Penguin Group.
38. Plame's latest novel features a protagonist named Vanessa Pierson and is loosely autobiographical.
39. Is known for her work on Fair Game (2010), Countdown to Zero (2010) and Beyond 9/11: Portraits of Resilience (2011).
40. Keeps her house intimidatingly neat.
41. Suffered from post-partum depression.
42. She is a sister of a U.S. Marine.
43. In 2003 Robert Novak revealed in his newspaper column that Ambassador Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame Wilson, was a CIA operative.
44. Disclosure of that secret information spurred a federal investigation and led to the trial.
45. Valerie Plame and Joseph Wilson were featured in a 2004 Vanity Fair magazine spread.
46. She was very competitive at games like Sorry! and Monopoly.
47. Her mom, Diane, still keeps a framed painting of a horse Valerie made as a girl.
48. Her favorite book was Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie.
49. When she was a teenager worked as a waitress in various places.
50. Traveled a lot in Europe with her family.
