Following up the recent openings of the ‘For Your Eyes Only: Ian Fleming and James Bond’ and ‘Bond Bound: Ian Fleming & the Art of Cover Design’ exhibitions in London, details have been revealed on yet another Ian Fleming centenary event.

As noted on the IanFlemingCentenary.com website, the Ian Fleming Centenary Lecture ‘Licenced To Kill’ is set to take place on Monday, 12 May 2008 at the Kenneth Clark Lecture Theatre, Courtauld Institute at Somerset House, London.

Full details follow:

Royal Society Of Literature Lecture:
‘Licenced To Kill’

Monday 12th May 2008

The Ian Fleming Centenary Lecture will take place on Monday 12 May at 7pm at the Kenneth Clark Lecture Theatre, Courtauld Institute at Somerset House, London.

The lecture will be given by Daphne Park and will feature readings by Lucy Fleming.

Daphne Park does not look like James Bond - in fact her beady cosiness is more reminiscent of Miss Marple - but she was the true face of British Intelligence for the second half of the twentieth century. She served in the SOE (Special Operations Executive) during the Second World War, in Moscow during the Cold War, and in Hanoi during the Vietnam conflict. She smuggled men out of the Congo in the boot of her car (not an Aston Martin, but a 2cv), and became a senior controller for MI6, before moving on to become Principal of Somerville College, Oxford. Created Baroness Park of Monmouth in 1990, she insists that intelligence work is less about glamorous derring-do than about ‘knowing human beings’. So, how real was James Bond? In a discussion to mark the centenary of the birth of Ian Fleming, interspersed with readings from his work by his niece, the actress Lucy Fleming, Lady Park talks to diplomat Alan Judd, author of the authorised life of Mansfield Cumming, founder of MI6, and of the spy novel Legacy.

Members of the public are welcome to attend any of these meetings. We suggest a contribution of £5.

The Lecture is entitled ‘Licensed to kill?’ and will be chaired by Alan Judd. Tickets, which are not issued in advance, are available on the door. Suggested contribution £5. Please telephone 020 7845 4676 or email info@rslit.org for further details.

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