Tweets,

Some of you may have seen most of this on Birdchat.

Enjoy,

--Dan
Dan Victor, Seattle, WA <dvictor at u.washington.edu>
Tweeters = http://weber.u.washington.edu/~dvictor/

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 6 Dec 1997 09:34:40 -0500
From: Priyantha Wijesinghe <dwijesin at EMAIL.GC.CUNY.EDU>
To: BIRDCHAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU
Subject: James Bond (not 007)

The new James Bond movie and video games have got my son pretending to be
Ian Fleming's fictional character (it used to be Batman or Superman before
that), so I told him that the 'real' James Bond was a man who studied the
birds of the West Indies at the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences.
My son was curious to know if James Bond the ornithologist was still
alive. All the library catalogues I have checked give Bond's year of birth
as 1900, which would make him 97 if he was alive today! As that seems
unlikely, does anybody know when James Bond died and if there is any
biographical information about him around (e.g., an obituary in an
ornithological journal)? Thanks for any help.

Priyantha
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Priyantha Wijesinghe Department of Entomology
Email: dwijesin at email.gc.cuny.edu American Museum of Natural History
Fax: 212 769 5277 Central Park West at 79th Street
New York, NY 10024
=======================================================================

Date: Sat, 6 Dec 1997 13:59:33 -0500
From: Ronald Orenstein <ornstn at INFORAMP.NET>

Dr. Bond, whom I met in 1966, passed away many years ago, though I do not
recall the date. The story of the Bond-Fleming connection was told by his
wife Mary Bond in her book "How James Bond Got His Name" (including Kenneth
Parkes' side-splitting parody which combined the two characters into a
fearless ornithological secret agent searching for tremblers in the West
Indies after making his name as a student of Parus major).

When I was at the Academy in 1996 I was surprised and saddened to find that
the staff on duty at the information desk were not even aware that the real
James Bond once stalked their halls.
--
Ronald I. Orenstein Phone: (905) 820-7886
International Wildlife Coalition Fax/Modem: (905) 569-0116
1825 Shady Creek Court
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5L 3W2 mailto:ornstn at inforamp.net

===================

Date: Sat, 6 Dec 1997 17:06:58 -0500
From: Nuff Said <nuffsaid at ESCAPE.COM>

I'll add what I know of the connection - though this is from memory.

I remember reading that Ian Fleming wrote the first Bond books
in Jamaica (where many of the stories take place) and was searching for a
name and spied (ahem) James Bond's Field Guide to the Birds of West
Indies and used that name because he wanted a "very British" name and
that fit the bill (ahem again).

Interesting that Fleming even had that Field Guide.

Bond's book is still in print, which I find interesting since so
many books even more recent than that one have been updated. I wonder if
the author's name is the reason the book is still in print.

Happy Bird-day,
Ken

Gale, Ken Gale
New York City
nuffsaid at escape.com
==================

Date: Sat, 6 Dec 1997 17:20:06 -0500
From: Theo Hofmann <theo at HERA.MED.UTORONTO.CA>

>From what I have heard Ian Fleming had known James Bond in Britain
and on a trip to the USA went to visit him. During this visit it occurred
to him that James Bond would be a good name for his hero. He asked Dr.
Bond there and then for permission to use his name.

I don't remember where I have heard this.

"Se non e vero e ben trovato"

BTW Dr. Bond died sometime between 1988 and about 1992, if I remember
correctly. I am certain that it was a while after 1986.

Theo Hofmann
199 Arnold Avenue Phone: 905 889-1554
Thornhill Ontario Fax: 416 978-8548
Canada L4J 1C1
e-mail: theo at hera.med.utoronto.ca
=====================

Date: Mon, 8 Dec 1997 09:41:26 -0500
From: James Dean <DEAN.JAMES at NMNH.SI.EDU>

After a bit of searching, I located James Bond's obitutary in the AUK,
(vol 106, No. 4, p 718 -720).

To answer the original question, James Bond died 14 Feb. 1989.

James Dean
Division of Birds
Smithsonian Institution
Washington, DC 20560
dean.james at nmnh.si.edu
===================

Date: Tue, 9 Dec 1997 09:53:36 -0800
From: Dennis Paulson <dpaulson at mail.ups.edu>
To: "D. Victor" <dvictor at u.washington.edu>

When I lived in Miami I had friends with whom I visited the West Indies
with some frequency. We always called the ornithologist James Bond "007."

Dennis Paulson, Director phone 253-756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax 253-756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416
http://www.ups.edu/biology/museum/museum.html
=============