The "father" of James Bond was Ian Fleming, who was born on May 28, 1902, in Mayfair, London and was educated at Eton. After Sandburst, Munich, and Geneva Universities, he joined Reuters News Agency, making his first mark as a journalist during the famous 1933 Moscow trials of British engineers. This was also his introduction to the world of espionage.
After a short spell as a partner in a stockbrokerage firm, he joined the staff of The Times of London and returned to Moscow. During World War II, he served with the rank of Commander in the British Naval Intelligence Division and in 1945, he joined the Kemsley newspapers as foreign manager. At this point, he decided to build a holiday house in Jamaica, which he called "Goldeneye" after the title of the Carson McCullers novel, "Reflections In A Golden Eye".
It was at "Goldeneye" in 1952 that he conceived the character of James Bond, the most famous secret agent ever, and completed his first book,
"Casino Royale". One of his "bibles" at the time was the classic reference book, "Birds Of The West Indies" written by the American ornithologist, James Bond. Explained Fleming, "I was determined that my secret agent should be as anonymous a personality as possible. It struck me that his name, brief, unromantic, and yet very masculine, was just what I needed."
Fleming wrote more than Bond novels. Of note is the charming "Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang", which was made into a film starring Dick Van Dyke and produced by none other than Albert "Cubby" Broccoli.
Fleming died on August 12, 1964 at the age of 56. But his imagination lives on in the character of Agent 007.
.iso/pc/games/mac/__interesting_stuff__/007/card_18051_render.png){kind=link}
.iso/pc/games/mac/__interesting_stuff__/007/card_18220_render.png){kind=link}