Screenwriter Peter Rader has taken the abundant public material that is available on the life of the legendary Mike Wallace, meshed it with many interviews that he conducted of Mike's family, friends, colleagues and others who have crossed Mike's path and produced an extremely interesting and seemingly complete biography of a very complex and extraordinary man. The book is well-edited and well-documented and makes for a terrific read of an extremely signficant 20th Century broadcast pioneer.Published shortly before Mike's death this year, Rader details the complete arc of Mike's life beginning with his troubled relationship with his mother and his start as a Michigan radio newsman (ironically with eventual co-CBSer Douglas Edwards). Rader leaves nothing out--We revisit Mike's days as a game show host, Broadway actor, Parliament cigarette pitchmeister, co-host with second wife Buff Cobb on a daily chat show and the show that eventually made Mike a household name, the New York City broadcast, Night Beat where he honed his second-to-none interview skills that he showcased successfully for 30 years on 60 Minutes, Mike's deservedly everlasting legacy.As fully explained by Rader, Mike's personal life was somehwat troubled. He was married four times, leaving his first wife with two very young sons for the aforementioned Ms. Cobb. The eldest of the two sons, Peter, died tragically in an accident in Greece when he was 19 in 1962. Mike's other biological son, Fox anchor Chris Wallace, was essentially raised by his mother and stepfather, CBS executive Bill Leonard. Leonard was to play a key role in helping both Chris with his career and seems to have played a major role in bringing a then soiled Mike to CBS and perhaps even helped Mike get on 60 Minutes. Leonard also seems to have played a contructive role in helping Chris reconnect with his father although one does get the impression that this reconciliation was not complete until very late in Mike's life.Unfortunately--perhaps triggered, understandably by Peter's death--Mike sufferred from debilitating depression for may years as a he approached his mid-sixties (in 1983) around the time that then former General William Westmoreland sued Mike and CBS for libel as a result of a 1982 CBS documentary on Vietnam very critical of Westmoreland. Rader takes the time to detail Mike's torture in seeing this litigation through. It was only when the Westmoreland team realized that they would lose that they withdrew the litigation sometime in 1985.CBS allowed Mike the opportunity to work until he was 90 years old but Rader's story details the many just plain awful events that Mike had to go through for the last 25 years of his career. One wonders why Mike felt compelled to put himself through this self-torture when it all wasn't necessary but the answer is self-evident: Mike had a passion for his work that even old age couldn't put down. After all, that's why he became the very famous Mike Wallace.Rader, while clearly an admirer of the professional Wallace--walks the reader through some of Mike's many limitations. Besides the abandonment of his two sons, Mike was clearly extremely self-absorbed which caused the end of his first and third marriages. He treated most of his subordinates quite cruelly and seems to have made it a practice of sexually harrassing many of his female associates. Rader also details some of Mike's professional transgressions as a journalist which today, if not then, would certainly be categorized as unethical. It is also sad to see how Wallace treated original 60 Minutes co-host Harry Reasoner at the latter's CBS retirement party in the late eighties, at time when Harry was suffering from lung cancer.When I think of Mike Wallace, I prefer to remember his amazing contributions of all of the secrets and fraud that he uncovered over 60 years. However, after reading Rader's book, I don't think many readers would be willing to pay the price of that kind of fame.