Saturday, February 1, 2014

Britain's Famous Cold War Author

By Serena Price


The Cold War describes the years between the end of World War II, 1945, and the collapse of the USSR in 1991. Specifically, it refers to the tense quality of relations between the Soviet Union and the United States. Ian Fleming was a hugely popular cold war author. He is best known for his James Bond spy novels as well as a children's short story that became a popular Disney film, "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang."

Fleming's family came from Scotland. They moved from Perth to Dundee, where Ian's grandfather, Robert Fleming, made his fortune in the financial sector. When the Flemings migrated from Dundee to London in the south, Robert Fleming started an investment bank of his own.

Valentine Fleming, Ian's father, was killed during the First World War, where he served as one of the Queen's Own (Oxfordshire) Hussars. The man who would one day be Prime Minister of Great Britain, Winston Churchill, who was Fleming's friend and fellow officer, penned Valentine's death notice in the paper. Prior to being killed, Valentine, a Parliament member and Barrister-at-law, married Evelyn Rose. Together they had four children, all boys.

Born at 27 Green Street in Mayfair, London, on May 28, 1908, Ian Lancaster Fleming was the second of four brothers. Educated at Eton College near Windsor, Fleming pursued further education in Austria and Germany. Fleming's brother, Peter, was born in 1907. He married actress Celia Johnson, noted for her performance in the David Lean film, "Brief Encounter." His brother, Richard Fleming, was born in 1911 and died of a heart attack in 1977. Michael Fleming was born in 1913 and died at Normandy in 1940, after marrying and fathering four children.

Ian Fleming had an early career in journalism at the Reuters news agency. During this time, he was in Oxford and was fined three guineas, or GBP 3.15 for a traffic offense. . His lawyer had to explain that he was unable to appear in court because he was attending the World Economic Conference. His years at Reuters were the most thrilling period of his life.

He was so eager to work for Reuters, he volunteered to work for nothing for a month's trial. He successfully completed updating 500 obituaries, which impressed his boss tremendously. During the Reuters years, Fleming learned to write accurately and quickly. Submitting anything less than 100% accurate copy was grounds for dismissal at Reuters.

It was Fleming's tenure as assistant Director of Naval Intelligence that inspired his 14 James Bond novels. He chose the name, James Bond, from the writer of a book about West Indian birds. Fleming spent 18 years in Jamaica, and the volume was his constant companion.

Cold war author, Ian Fleming, most famous for his spy novels, also wrote a children's short story, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. This story was eventually made into a Disney movie. The story was written for his son, Caspar. Fleming suffered a heart attack in Jamaica on the day of his son's 12th birthday, August 12, 1964. The boy never recovered from losing his father at such a tender age and took his own life in 1975.




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