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Saturday, 1 February 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."

The Fleming family were originally from Scotland, first in Perth and then Dundee. Robert Fleming, Ian's grandfather, made a fortune in investment trusts before moving the family to London's Grosvenor Square, where they lived in a house on the site of what is occupied today as the American Embassy. Once settled in London, Robert started his own investment bank.

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 in London's Mayfair on 27 Green Street on the 28th of May 1908, Ian Lancaster Fleming was the second-eldest of four brothers. He went to school at Eaton College, and then studied abroad in Germany and Austria. His elder brother, Peter, was born in 1907. He eventually wed noted actress, Celia Johnson, who appeared in David Lean's Film, "Brief Encounter." The two younger Fleming brothers, Richard and Michael, were born in 1911 and 1913, respectively. Richard died of a heart attack in 1977, while Michael married and had four children.

Ian Fleming's early working years were spent at Reuters news agency. Incurring a fine for a driving offense in Oxford, Fleming had to absent himself from his court appearance because he was covering the World Economic Conference on Reuters' behalf. He looked fondly on his years at Reuters as the most thrilling period of his life.

During his one month's unsalaried trial at Reuters, Fleming was tasked with updating 500 obituaries. This impressed his then-boss, Editor-in-Chief Bernard Rickatson-Hatt, who described him as meticulous, methodical and painstaking. It was here at Reuters that he learned how to be fast and accurate. At Reuters, if you weren't accurate, you weren't employed.

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.

Ian Fleming, cold war author, was also known for writing a children's story, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which was eventually made into a Walt Disney movie. He wrote the book for his son, Caspar. It was Caspar's 12th birthday, August 12, 1964, when Fleming died of cardiac arrest. Caspar never really recovered from losing his father and committed suicide in 1975.




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