Most of the sources for the "dementia" story come from FR.
No, it was his daughter.
The June 1 issue of the News Virginian , " On The Trail Of The Secret Informant " by J Todd Foster is a very interesting read on the author's dealing with the daughter and father, when he was freelancing for People magazine a few years ago.
The deal with People fell through when the daughter and the family lawyer demanded " a lot of money."
"He was very impaired, and I thought he was dying," his daughter, Joan, told my writing partner.
" Felt soon moved into his daughter's basement. He was unhappy at the convalescent home and hard to manage by staff. He even spent all afternoon one day trying to reach the FBI, where he had retired more than 30 years earlier."
" He had dementia. And memory loss," his daughter said.
"He was extremely confused. He was up in the middle of the night [at the convalescent home], knocking on people's doors, thinking that he was doing investigations for the bureau."
Foster quotes occasions where his writing partner interviewed Felt and Felt denied being DT, denied knowing Woodward, thought DT was a fictional character, etc. Albeit after the stroke , but, he appeared lucid.
The daughter tells the authors that her father is mentally impaired. But, then urges him to admit that he is DT when she is trying to sell his story to People and Harper Collins.
I find this troubling :
" It was only after prodding and coaching from his daughter and the family's attorney, John O'Connor of San Francisco, that Felt even gave his lukewarm admission."
re #131.........is Felt living in his daughter's basement or in her converted garage?