James Leasor and the James Bond Continuation Authorship in the 1960s?

Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,843MI6 Agent
edited March 2019 in James Bond Literature
I'm very interested in how James Leasor (1923-2007) was asked in the 1960s by Glidrose to be the first James Bond continuation author before Kingsley Amis and Geoffrey Jenkins, on the strength of his successful Dr Jason Love spy novel series (one of which was filmed as Where the Spies Are [1966], starring David Niven). Mr Leasor reportedly declined the offer to be the first James Bond continuation author.

Does anyone know anything more about this besides the scant information that is available about this online which comes from his obituary in The Times in 2007?

Have you read any of the Dr Jason Love spy novels and if you have what sort of Bond novels do you think James Leasor would have went on to write?

If so, I'd love to hear from you. :)

P.S. Read more about James Leasor's life and works here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Leasor
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).

Comments

  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 37,854Chief of Staff
    I read the first several of these (Passport to this, Passport to that) and enjoyed them very much. They're well-written and have a good sense of place and character, though the reader's credulity is stretched at times... therefore Leasor would have been a logical choice to take over from Fleming!
    I stopped reading them round about when Leasor started to cross his Jason Love character into another series he was writing (can't remember what that was, being over 40 years ago now) in which I had no interest.
  • sleasorsleasor Posts: 2MI6 Agent
    Fascinated to come across this post. I am one of James Leasor's sons and have been republishing his books, initially as e-books but now also as paperbacks (www.jamesleasor.com). My father's view was that it would have been wrong to try to follow Ian Fleming - he was not a supporter of continuation authorship! He felt that once an author was dead, no-one should try to replace him/her, or equally to try to profit from what a reputation that had been established by someone else's ideas and efforts.
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 37,854Chief of Staff
    Welcome to AJB, Mr Leasor. Thank you for sharing your information with us! As I said above, I enjoyed your late father's books very much.
    I'm sure that Silhouette Man, who started this thread, would like to thank you as well.
  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,843MI6 Agent
    edited April 2017
    Yes, thank you very much to sleasor for clarifying his father's reasoning for rejecting the Bond continuation authorship in the 1960s. Your father James Leasor sounded like a very principled man when it came to other authors' characters.

    I've been wondering for over a year about all of this, buying up all of the Dr Jason Love novels as I went along, and I'm now very glad that I finally started this thread! It has went beyond my wildest imagining by having Mr Leasor's son contribute to it! :) -{

    Thank you so much again, and please do stay with us and I'm sure that your continued input would be greatly valued by the literary Bond fans of AJB.
    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
  • sleasorsleasor Posts: 2MI6 Agent
    Delighted to find this site and I will certainly follow it!
    And happy to answer any other James Leasor questions.
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 37,854Chief of Staff
    Then, I'd like to ask if your father was pleased at the casting of David Niven as Jason Love? Niven has always been one of my own favourite actors, and of course was Ian Fleming's own choice for the part of James Bond (although I'm sure both Fleming and Niven would have preferred that to have been in a different film from when it did happen!).
    By coincidence (I think), Niven also starred in another film taken from a James Leasor book, "The Sea Wolves" alongside Roger Moore- I'd forgotten earlier that I did read that book "Boarding Party".
  • Polar Bear 0007Polar Bear 0007 CanadaPosts: 129MI6 Agent
    Quick question perhaps someone can answer for me:
    I just picked up "Passport to Peril". I didn't read the first novel, can this be read as a stand alone or do I need to read the prior book first?
    Thank you for your help.....
    This is where we leave you Mr. Bond. (Pilot, Apollo Airlines)
  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,843MI6 Agent
    Polar Bear 0007 wrote:
    Quick question perhaps someone can answer for me:
    I just picked up "Passport to Peril". I didn't read the first novel, can this be read as a stand alone or do I need to read the prior book first?
    Thank you for your help.....

    I think that I am right in saying that they are all standalones, just like the Fleming Bond novels.
    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
  • Polar Bear 0007Polar Bear 0007 CanadaPosts: 129MI6 Agent
    Thank you
    This is where we leave you Mr. Bond. (Pilot, Apollo Airlines)
  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,843MI6 Agent
    Lovely to see James Leasor appear at the premiere for The Sea Wolves (1980), the film based on his book Boarding Party (1978):

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5rgBu9iwFQ
    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 37,854Chief of Staff
    In a new audio production of James Leasor's "Passport To Oblivion", George Lazenby plays Dr Jason Love.

    https://spitefulpuppet.com/product/passport-to-oblivion-2-disc-set/
  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,843MI6 Agent
    Barbel wrote:
    In a new audio production of James Leasor's "Passport To Oblivion", George Lazenby plays Dr Jason Love.

    https://spitefulpuppet.com/product/passport-to-oblivion-2-disc-set/

    This is truly great news that I also read a little about on Twitter where George Lazenby has an account. Terence Stamp is also involved in the project and he was once considered for the Bond film role himself. It's certainly nice to see George Lazenby back in action and playing a secret agent again. Earlier this year I finally watched the film version of James Leasor's first Dr Jason Love novel, Passport to Oblivion (1964), which was filmed as Where the Spies Are (1966) starring David Niven in the lead role. So, interestingly, that now makes it two Bond lead actors who have played the character!
    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 37,854Chief of Staff
    It was always Niven I pictured when reading the novels. Looking forward to hearing Lazenby having a go to see if it changes my mind.
  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,843MI6 Agent
    Barbel wrote:
    It was always Niven I pictured when reading the novels. Looking forward to hearing Lazenby having a go to see if it changes my mind.

    Yes, I'm looking forward to this coming out and will certainly be purchasing a copy of it when it does. I've read on the official Twitter account that James Leasor's Dr Jason Love novels are being reprinted again too which is even more excellent news! -{
    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
  • emtiememtiem SurreyPosts: 5,948MI6 Agent
    Barbel wrote:
    In a new audio production of James Leasor's "Passport To Oblivion", George Lazenby plays Dr Jason Love.

    https://spitefulpuppet.com/product/passport-to-oblivion-2-disc-set/

    That's a pretty impressive thing: Terrance Stamp too!
  • JET007JET007 Austin, TXPosts: 184MI6 Agent
    https://www.thejamesbonddossier.com/content/review-george-lazenby-in-passport-to-oblivion.htm

    I quite enjoyed it! I would definitely recommend giving it a listen when it comes out on 29 November!
    @JaviTru on Twitter and @TheBondIsNotEnough on Instagram. Occasional contributor to thejamesbonddossier.com
  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,843MI6 Agent
    Option taken out to film one of James Leasor's WWII books, Green Beach, about a mission during the 1942 Dieppe raid:

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yFSvkhqL2HE&t=29s
    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
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