It’s 1965, I’m in the theater with my date, and we’ve just finished watching the latest James Bond movie.
I’d sat thru 109 minutes of Dr. No. Out of sequence as to how he wrote his novels, the two things I remember were Ursula Andress, and watching the credits role at the end and the caption on the screen that said watch for the next James Bond film, From Russia With Love, coming next year. For a fleeting moment, I actually thought about waiting 12 months there in the theater, living off stale popcorn that one always finds wedged between the seat cushions.
Instead, I decided to become James Bond. Why not? The cars, the gunplay, the beautiful women, all at a time I couldn’t yet drive, parents said no to a BB gun, and I had yet to unsnap my girlfriend’s bra.
As have many millions, I’ve followed the career of everyone’s favorite spy, from Sean Connery to Daniel Craig, casually forgetting most of the other stars with the nonsensical gadgets, far from the tough guy image Ian Fleming originally penned, with the 3 inch scar on his cheek and blue eyes. In Fleming’s mind, James Bond looked like this composite…
We’ve come to know a great deal about 007 through the years, butI I only knew a snippet about the man behind the scenes. Intrigued, I decided to read, Ian Fleming-The Complete Man, a +700 page tome that goes into the nitty gritty of the creator of everyone’s favorite spy.
For some who knew him well, he’s a total shit. For others, a wonderful human being; worldly, educated, upper crust, hedonistic. All agree, from here 007 emerged. Based a great deal on Fleming’s own tastes, his life comes off as a blueprint for his fictional character, weaving much about himself and his likes, as well as the friends and enemies he rubs elbows with during his all to brief life.
From a wealthy and educated background (grandfather Robert was one of the richest men in the British Empire), beset by a domineering mother Eve, older brother Peter who was an uber successful author, Ian had his work cut out for him, always trying to rise to family expectations. But that’s the boring stuff.
Wealth and connections made during his educational years lead him to Reuters News Agency as a special reporter covering a great deal of the best and the worst of times, especially WW ll. From London to Moscow, all of Europe and the Caribbean, Fleming reported on the happenings of the world. He was so well thought of at Reuters that he managed to finagle a 4 month winter vacation every year and ended up building GoldenEye, a wonderful home in Jamaica. Here at GoldenEye, age 44, he wrote his first James Bond novel, Casino Royale. And you can stay at Fleming’s Jamaican retreat, GoldenEye, where he spend time knocking out 2,000 words a day.
Somehow landing a job in Naval Intelligence giving him access to President Roosevelt and his staff, and he was said to have considerable influence on getting the United States involved in WW ll long before Pearl Harbor.
Towards the end of World War II, Fleming, now a Commander in the Intelligence Office, took charge of 30 Assault Unit, a group of highly trained commandos sent on specific intelligence missions. Fleming’s unit copied and stole valuable Nazi documents and infiltrated German intelligence units.
Dead at 56 from heart disease caused by chain smoking and a prodigious drinking habit, Flemings had by then sold more than 40 million copies of the James Bond series.
The book is interesting reading if you have the time, which today is in short supply for most of us. You can get a very good taste of Fleming by reading the book’s introduction, the prologue and epilogues.
Ian Fleming-The Complete Man is a book you wade through. Detailed for a reason, the tidbits all make you believe his life was always headed for an early, tortured death, much like his only son, Caspar, who died of a drug overdose at age 23.
Need more about Fleming and his spy? Here’s a great source from Ian Fleming Publications
Ian Fleming’s books are available everywhere, still great reads, and his good vs evil character has never lost his touch.