Sir Hilary Bray Day
'Baker, Bond, Benson, Bray: a film by Kim Sherwood and David Lowbridge-Ellis' + finishing Book 3, Bond audio tips & events!
Dear Reader,
Happy Sir Hilary Bray Day! As you may know, my grandfather the actor George Baker was tipped by Ian Fleming to play James Bond, and went on to appear in multiple Bond films, notably as Sir Hilary Bray in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
This year, Licence to Queer – who run the brilliant community event Jim Fanning Friday, for another fan favourite character – suggested initiating Sir Hilary Bray Day to celebrate George’s contribution to the Bond world and raise money for charity. To join in, simply share a picture of yourself today wearing tweed (or something tweed-adjacent) with the hashtag #SirHilaryBrayDay – each post will mean a donation to Papyrus, a charity that seeks to prevent young suicide. Here’s my effort!
Tweed and Bond have a surprising and fascinating history – to learn more, check out this conversation between David Lowbridge-Ellis and my sister, artist Rosie Sherwood, who shares her expertise on cloth, fashion history & more! Rosie also tells stories of George and our grandmother, the trailblazing set and costume designer Julia Squire.
To mark the occasion, I also sat down with David to share memories of my grandfather and have a Bond watchalong, breaking down George’s scenes in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and The Spy Who Loved Me!
The result is Baker, Bond, Benson, Bray: a film by Kim Sherwood and David Lowbridge-Ellis, in which we talk about everything from Ian Fleming’s choice of George as Bond – you can perhaps see why in these photos – to George’s acting career in TV and films like Dam Busters, The Prisoner and Ruth Rendell’s Inspector Wexford, and his influence on my development as a person and a writer.
You can watch the film on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts.
I also share one of my earliest memories, waiting backstage of This Is Your Life before joining George on camera. I dug out a photo of the moment.
Over a decade after his passing, I miss George to this day and dream of him often. I’m grateful to the Bond community for holding him so dear, and especially to David for giving our family this space to celebrate George’s life and career. I think it’s one of my most personal interviews and I hope you enjoy it.
More events added!
I’m excited to say two more events have been added to my book tour!
I’ll be at Capital Crime in London on the 1st of June talking about thrillers, so if you were disappointed not to get tickets to the book launch, make sure to snatch this up.
And I’m thrilled to announce I’ll be a guest at Operation: Concorde, 007GB Club’s May Gala raising funds for Unicef on the 18th of May! There’s only a few tickets left so act fast.
The days are counting down until the release of A Spy Like Me and it’s amazing to see support at bookshops across the country – including my first ever big Waterstones display, at Waterstones Piccadilly no less!
This week I’m at Gladstone’s Library, the only residential library in the UK. I’m here to finish Book 3 in the Double O series. For paying subscribers, read on to hear about this special place, and for my James Bond audio recommendations! girl with the golden pen is a reader-supported publication. There are three subscription tiers:
FREE: you receive 2 newsletters a month, offering a window into my writing life
PAYING £7 a month or £70 a year: you receive 2 newsletters a month with regular bonus content including videos with creative writing tips! Plus complementary tickets to online events and socials. I’m planning an online social in early May, so watch this space.
FOUNDING MEMBER £150 a year: you receive all this plus signed proofs, first editions, merch & more!
If you’d like a UK or US proof, numbers are now extremely limited so sign up or upgrade to founding member now!
Heartfelt thanks as always for all your support.
From Kim, With Love x
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to girl with the golden pen to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.