"The little-known stories behind well-known inventions"

Secret agent's life filled with the latest inventions and gadgets       By Paul Niemann

[AUG. 4, 2005]  This week's story is about a secret agent -- a real-life James Bond, so to speak. He was a former director of British Naval Intelligence during World War II. His name was Ian which, if you're from Great Britain, you know is a fairly common name for a man.

Many of Ian's inventions are well-known all over the Western Hemisphere, especially among men. He was like Rube Goldberg, who made a living as a cartoonist and also drew elaborate inventions despite not being an inventor himself. Ian, you see, was not an inventor either. He was a writer.

The literary industry looked down on Ian's writings, yet his books went on to sell more than 30 million copies during his career. Ian brought his inventions to life through his writings.

Ian's grandfather founded the Scottish American Investment Trust in his native Scotland in 1873, when he was just 28 years old. He also helped finance America's reconstruction after the Civil War. His business went on to become a huge success, and it is still doing well today as an investment and merchant bank.

Ian's father, whose first name was Valentine, was a member of British parliament, a friend of Winston Churchill's and served in World War I. Sadly, he was killed in combat. Churchill wrote an obituary for Ian's father, and Ian kept it with him for the rest of his life.

Ian was born in 1908 in London, England, and had three brothers. He followed in his father's footsteps by serving in World War II. After the war, Ian moved to the north coast of Jamaica and built his home, which he named Goldeneye. Here he began writing the stories about his famous alter ego.

Not to change the subject, but have you ever wondered why certain movies feature new inventions and gadgets that seemed like they were created just for the movie? The 1968 children's film "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" and the James Bond movies are two perfect examples. "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" featured a popular inventor played by Dick Van Dyke, while the Bond movies featured the coolest high-tech gadgets that were years ahead of their time.

Not coincidentally, both of these shows were created by the same person. His name?

Fleming. Ian Fleming.

As in the case of James Bond, it's easy for life to imitate art when the person creating the art is writing about his own life. I mentioned in the opening sentence that Ian was a real-life James Bond -- a spy for the British Naval Intelligence during World War II.

While his greatest "invention" was James Bond, he never invented anything in real life. He commanded Q to equip Bond with all the coolest gadgets that any self-respecting spy would want, such as the ejector seat in his Aston Martin car, the specially equipped briefcase, the ski pole gun, the acid pen and the Omega watch with a laser.

Here is some interesting trivia about Ian Feming's greatest "invention," James Bond -- trivia that any loyal Bond fan would know:

• Ian Fleming chose the name James Bond after the author of "Birds of the West Indies." He wanted a dull, plain name for the character.
• Fleming attended Eton, which is the same school that Prince Harry attended.
• Two of the Bond actors, Sean Connery and Roger Moore, have been knighted.
• Cary Grant was one of the actors that Sean Connery beat out for the role of Bond.
• As a boy, Sean Connery delivered milk to the school that James Bond attended -- Fettes -- which is the school that British Prime Minister Tony Blair attended.
• Sean Connery's son, Jason, portrayed Ian Fleming in the film "Spymaker."
• There were five different actors who played James Bond during the first 19 official Bond movies, but there was only one actor who played Q during that time. Desmond Llewelyn's Q character was also known as Major Boothroyd.

[Paul Niemann]

Paul Niemann may be reached at [e-mail].

© Paul Niemann 2005