I recently came across an article on a biography website that discussed whether the real James Bond was a spy, and naturally mentioned my book, which devotes a whole chapter to that possibility. (Another chapter highlighted all of Bond's colleagues who were spies during World War II.)

"Who would now dare to suspect (the real) James Bond of espionage without passing for a fanatic who could no longer distinguish between fiction and reality?

"The last to engage in this perilous exercise was Jim Wright in his book The Real James Bond: A True Story of Identity Theft, Avian Intrigue and Ian Fleming published at Schiffer in 2020.

"In this extremely well documented and illustrated biography of the real James Bond, Wright nevertheless dares to ask the question of whether James Bond was an American spy. Wright concludes not. But isn’t the question rather whether James Bond would be on Her Majesty’s Secret Service?"

My next free Zoom talk about The Real James Bond is for Maine's Mid-coast Audubon and the Camden Public Library is tonight (Thursday,  Dec. 16) at 7 p.m.

The ornithologist spent his summers in Maine his whole life, and he and his artist uncle Carroll Tyson even wrote a field guide about the birds of Mount Desert Island. (Tyson also did a famous portfolio of the birds of MDI with Bond's help.

You can learn more here.