'James Bond' author shares love of writing with COD students
College of DuPage Motion Picture/Television instructor Raymond Benson originally intended on a career in theater. Fortunately for millions of fans, he ended up pursuing unforeseen opportunities, including being the first American writer of the James Bond book series.
The writer, director, composer, film historian and critic is enjoying a rich, multi-faceted career, bringing his vast experience to his Film History classes.
Throughout his long career, Benson's studied film and its history, applying everything he's learned in theatre, computer games, and writing into teaching class. Filmmaking, like many fields, requires passion and a desire to learn the art. It's the same passion Benson's had for years whether he's discussing films, composing music or writing.
That passion leads to new projects. His latest book, “The Black Stiletto,” will be released in September.
“‘The Black Stiletto' is ‘Million Dollar Baby' meets ‘Batman' meets ‘Mad Men,'” Benson said. “It's set in the 1950s and the main character is a female vigilante. The book comes out in September and I'm writing the sequel now.”
The Buffalo Grove resident studied theater, earning his degree in directing from the University of Texas at Austin. He lived in New York for 12 years, doing a number of off Broadway shows and composing before delving into writing his first book.
“Some friends and I were talking about what type of book each of us would write if given the chance and I said I'd like to do an encyclopedia of James Bond,” he said.
With help from a friend, Benson signed with a publisher and began researching the entire history of the James Bond series. “The James Bond Bedside Companion” was published in 1984.
In the years that followed, Benson moved into computer gaming, writing story lines for a number of titles. He helped create several adventure role-playing games, as well as several game tie-ins, the first of which were for Tom Clancy's “Splinter Cell.”
In 1995, however, Ian Fleming's estate contacted Benson about writing for the official James Bond series, making him the fourth author and first American to take the helm.
“I actually travelled to all the locations I wrote about, even to some places tourists typically aren't allowed. You'd be amazed how many doors James Bond can open,” he said.
With six original books and other Bond writings under his belt, Benson left the franchise, but continued writing. In addition to “The Black Stiletto,” his most recent works include “Homefront – The Voice of Freedom,” a video game back story collaboration with John Milius, co-writer of “Apocalypse Now” and creator/writer of HBO's “Rome.”
In the meantime, Benson said, teaching is a wonderful way to impart his knowledge on future writers. It also proves to be a source of inspiration as story ideas can come from a variety of situations.
Teaching also takes the form of "Dann & Raymond's Movie Club," monthly film history presentations at the Schaumburg and Arlington Heights libraries, with Daily Herald film critic Dann Gire. The two film buffs select a genre or actor or other topic, leading their loyal fans on a brief tour of cinematic history.
“I have several decades of experience and it's all really one big bucket of information I can share,” Benson said. “I enjoy teaching and I only teach what I love.”