Saturday, June 27, 2009

Ian Fleming and President Kennedy

In the 1960s, as President Kennedy enjoyed a level of a level of slavishly devoted adoration from the press corps, not to be equalled until the present day. (For example, he once claimed to be able to speed read at the rate of 1,000 words a minute- and the reporters took him as his word.) About a year into his Presidency, someone asked for a list JFK's favorite books he'd read recently, and the White House dutifully released a list of ten titles- one of which was Ian Fleming's James Bond novel, "From Russia With Love." (Yep, that's the one where Bond stepped into his hotel room to find a beautiful Russian spy waiting for him in bed. No wonder JFK liked it!)

As a result of that Presidential endorsement, bookstores could not keep it in stock, and the publisher went through several new printings. So Ian Fleming's publisher was quite pleased. Ian Fleming's agent was quite pleased. And Ian Fleming was quite pleased too. And in 1964, in the last James Bond novel that Fleming wrote before his death, there is a scene where there is a lull in the action- Bond gets into bed, and picks up a copy of "Profiles in Courage." Obviously, that was Fleming's way of saying, "Gee, Mr. President, thanks for plugging my book, so I guess I'll plug *your* book."


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