|
|
biographies GOLDFINGER
with the South Whidbey High School Jazz Ensemble
Chris Harshman (Jazz Director) began studying clarinet with William O. Smith at the age of 9. Further early studies included several years under the instruction of Dave Barduhn, before joining the jazz program at
Roosevelt
High School
. He went on to study Jazz at
Central
Washington
University
under the tutelage of John Moad, and the Direction of Chris Bruya. As a sax player, Chris has performed with the Kennelly Keys All Star Big Band, several area "reading bands", as well as performed in the Pit for the Broadway production of The Producers (Seattle show). In addition to BA in Music Education, he earned a MM. degree in Bassoon performance from the
University
of
Arizona
. Currently, Chris teaches at
South
Whidbey
High School
, where his bands consistantly place first at National Level Jazz Festivals, and consistatly earn Superior Ratings at all Concert Band Festivals.
Ian Lancaster Fleming (writer) [May 28, 1908 – August 12, 1964] was a British author, journalist and Second World War Navy Commander. Fleming is best remembered for creating the character of James Bond and chronicling his adventures in twelve novels and nine short stories. Additionally, Fleming wrote the children's story “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” and two non-fiction books.
Ian Fleming was born in Mayfair, London, to Valentine Fleming, a Member of Parliament, and his wife Evelyn Ste Croix Fleming (née Rose). Ian was the younger brother of travel writer Peter Fleming and the older brother of Michael and Richard Fleming (1910–77). He also had an illegitimate half-sister, the cellist Amaryllis Fleming. He was the grandson of Scottish financier Robert Fleming, who founded the Scottish American Investment Trust and merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co. (since 2000 part of JP Morgan Chase). He was cousin to actor Christopher Lee and actress Dame Celia Johnson was his sister-in-law (wife of his brother Peter).
Fleming was educated at Sunningdale School in Berkshire, Eton College, and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He was Victor Ludorum at
Eton
two years running, something that had been achieved only once before him. He found
Sandhurst
to be uncongenial, and after an early departure from there, his mother sent him to study languages on the continent. He first went to a small private establishment in Kitzbühel, Austria, run by the Adlerian disciples Ernan Forbes Dennis and his American wife, the novelist Phyllis Bottome, to improve his German and prepare him for the Foreign Office exams, then to Munich University, and, finally, to the University of Geneva to improve his French. He was unsuccessful in his application to join the Foreign Office, and subsequently worked as a sub-editor and journalist for the Reuters news service, including time in 1933 in Moscow, and then as a stockbroker with Rowe and Pitman, in Bishopsgate.
In 1939, on the eve of World War II, Rear Admiral John Godfrey, Director of Naval Intelligence of the Royal Navy, recruited Fleming (then a reserve subaltern in the Black Watch) as his personal assistant. He was commissioned first as a Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve lieutenant, and subsequently promoted to Lieutenant Commander, then Commander. His known codename was 17F.
As the DNI's personal assistant, Fleming's intelligence work provided the background for his spy novels. In 1953, he published his first novel, Casino Royale. In it he introduced secret agent James Bond, also famously known by his code number, 007.
Initially Fleming's Bond novels were not bestsellers in
America
, but when President John F. Kennedy included From Russia With Love on a list of his favorite books, sales quickly jumped. Fleming wrote 14 Bond books in all: “Casino Royale” (1953), “Live and Let Die” (1954), “Moonraker” (1955), “Diamonds Are Forever” (1956), “From Russia with Love” (1957), “Dr. No” (1958), “Goldfinger” (1959), “For Your Eyes Only” (1960), “Thunderball” (1961), “The Spy Who Loved Me” (1962), “On Her Majesty's Secret Service” (1963), “You Only Live Twice” (1964), “The Man with the Golden Gun” (1965), and “Octopussy” and “The Living Daylights” (1966).
In the late 1950s, the financial success of Fleming's James Bond series allowed him to retire to Goldeneye, his estate in Saint Mary Parish, Jamaica. The name of the house and estate where he wrote his novels has many sources.
Besides writing twelve novels and nine short stories featuring James Bond, Fleming also wrote the children's novel “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”. He also wrote a guide to some of the worlds most famous cities in "Thrilling Cities" and a novel on diamond smuggling entitled "The Diamond Smugglers".
In 1961, he sold the film rights to his already published as well as future James Bond novels and short stories to Harry Saltzman, who, with Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli, co-produced the film version of Dr. No (1962). For the cast, Fleming suggested friend and neighbor Noël Coward as the villain Dr. Julius No, and David Niven or, later, Roger Moore as James Bond. Both were rejected in favor of Sean Connery, who was both Broccoli and Saltzman's choice. Fleming also suggested his cousin, Christopher Lee, either as Dr. No or even as James Bond. Although Lee was selected for neither role, in 1974 he portrayed assassin Francisco Scaramanga, the eponymous villain of The Man with the Golden Gun.
Neither Saltzman nor Broccoli expected Dr. No to be much of a success, but it was an instant sensation and sparked a spy craze through the rest of the 1960s.
The successful Dr. No was followed by From Russia with Love (1963), the second and last James Bond movie Ian Fleming saw.
_________________________________________________
Join us at Prima Bistro for an Intermission Dinner -
or following the Concert at The Edgecliff Restaurant & Lounge!
_________________________________________________
|
