James Bond (ornithologist)

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James Bond
Born	January 4, 1900(1900-01-04) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,  United States
Died	February 14, 1989 (aged 89) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Nationality	American
Occupation	Ornithologist
Known for	Caribbean Ornithology, namesake for Ian Fleming's James Bond

James Bond (January 4, 1900 – February 14, 1989) was a leading American ornithologist whose name was appropriated by writer Ian Fleming for his fictional spy, James Bond.

[edit] Biography

Bond was born in Philadelphia and worked as an ornithologist at the Academy of Natural Sciences in that city, rising to become curator of birds there. He was an expert in Caribbean birds and wrote the definitive book on the subject: Birds of the West Indies, first published in 1936 and, in its fifth edition, still in print (ISBN 0-618-00210-3).

Bond won the Institute of Jamaica's Musgrave Medal in 1952; the Brewster Medal of the American Ornithologists Union in 1954; and the Leidy Medal of the Academy of Natural Sciences in 1975. He died in the Chestnut Hill Hospital in Philadelphia at age 89.

[edit] Fictional namesake

Ian Fleming, who was a keen bird watcher living in Jamaica, was familiar with Bond's book, and chose the name of its author for the hero of Casino Royale in 1953, apparently because he wanted a name that sounded 'as ordinary as possible'. Fleming wrote to the real Bond's wife, "It struck me that this brief, unromantic, Anglo-Saxon and yet very masculine name was just what I needed, and so a second James Bond was born."

In the 2002 Bond film Die Another Day, Bond (played by Pierce Brosnan) can be seen examining Birds of the West Indies in an early scene that takes place in Havana, Cuba. The author's name (James Bond) on the front cover is obscured.

[edit] References

• The Associated Press. "James Bond, Ornithologist, 89; Fleming Adopted Name for 007." The New York Times. February 17, 1989. p. D19.
• Kenneth C. Parkes. "In Memoriam: James Bond." Auk. Vol. 106. p. 718. (Available as a pdf here, with a photograph).
• Andrew Walker (19 April 2002). "BBC NEWS : In Depth : Newsmakers : Ian Fleming: The man behind Bond - and Chitty". BBC News profiles unit. Retrieved on 2008-04-15.