Regan Sells His Memoirs for ‘Seven Figures’

NEW YORK — Former White House Chief of Staff Donald T. Regan has sold his memoirs for “seven figures,” his literary agent and his publishers announced simultaneously Thursday.

Regan’s account of his years in the Reagan Administration will be published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Inc. and is expected to appear before the 1988 election. “I am very happy to be associated with Harcourt Brace Jovanovich,” Regan, who was forced to resign from the White House in the midst of the Iran- contra scandal, said in a statement. “I am looking forward to producing an interesting book.”

Norman Brokaw, co-chairman of the board of the William Morris Agency, refused to say what his client received for his memoirs. “I got an excellent deal at auction and it’s a seven-figure deal,” Brokaw said. “ . . . There were numerous bidders.”

Scope of Book

He said the book would cover both Regan’s years as chief of staff and as secretary of the Treasury and would include not only the Iran-contra scandal but such events as the President’s controversial trip to Bitburg, West Germany, where he visited a cemetery containing the graves of German SS officers.

Large literary advances are nothing new for people associated with President Reagan. Former Budget Director David A. Stockman received $2.4 million for his memoirs. Historian Edmund Morris, who is writing a biography of President Reagan to be published after the chief executive leaves office, received $3 million.

Democrats have also made attractive deals. Former House Speaker Thomas P. (Tip) O’Neill Jr. received an advance of $1 million for his memoirs.