Former treasury secretary writing about meltdown

"I didn't come to Washington thinking I was going to leave and write a book, but this period was so significant and there are so many insights and so many lessons learned that I think an understanding of this extraordinary period is important," Paulson told The Associated Press during a telephone interview Wednesday from his office at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, in Washington.

The book, currently untitled, will be released in October by Business Plus, an imprint of Grand Central Publishing and the Hachette Book Group (USA). Paulson, a former chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, is not writing for money. He is taking no advance and will donate all profits to the nonprofit Homeownership Preservation Foundation, which helps families in danger of foreclosure.