Among journalists, Frank McCulloch is a legendary figure. During the Vietnam War build-up, he was the Time-Life bureau chief in Saigon, celebrated for reports that cut through the deceptions being served up by the U.S. government. Later, he would manage newsrooms at major newspapers in Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Francisco.

McCulloch also knew the reclusive aviator and movie mogul Howard Hughes. Which is how McCulloch came to expose the scam perpetrated on the book publishing industry by the author Clifford Irving. Irving is portrayed in the new movie, “The Hoax,” by Richard Gere.

Now retired to Santa Rosa, McCulloch on Sunday recounts how he came to write the story. See his Close to Home in the newspaper and online Sunday morning.

-Pete Golis