By John Iaboni, Sports Media Canada Special Correspondent – This week in Turkey
The name is Bond … Trevor Bond.
Okay, so on screen, Sean Connery said “James” Bond in his brilliant portrayal of Ian Fleming’s famous 007. But I’ve always wanted to write that lead and Trevor is the only Bond that allowed me the chance to do so. I even told him I was going with it and he did what every great, witty journalist would do. He laughed and said: “Licence To Thrill”, playing upon the 007 flick of 1989 in which Timothy Dalton was Bond in Licence to Kill.
Trevor Bond
“You know,” he added, “I’ve had at least three marriage proposals from airline stewardesses … not because of my looks, they just wanted to take the last name Bond!”
More laughs followed that one.
Trevor Bond is a Fleet Street legend who spent 48 years in the newspaper business. He’s here in Antalya for the 73rd AIPS Congress doing what he loves best – still writing stories, this time for www.aipsmedia.com, catching up with his numerous friends and making new ones along the way, like me.
How did he start in the business?
“Local newspapers,” he says. “I went to a very good school. I could have gone to university but chose not to because I knew I wanted to be a journalist. I wrote to 44 papers in an area of 50 miles for a job and finally I got one at the last minute on the very local newspaper, five-pounds a week old English money.
“Did my apprenticeship there just on three years; got headhunted to go to another local paper as sports editor. Actually I was very fortunate. I then joined its sister paper which was larger with a circulation of 84,000 which is a lot of circulation for a local newspaper in east London. I was the sports editor there for four years, covering my favourite football team, West Ham United, and then became editor for the last three. Went up and worked on The Sunday Telegraph for Saturdays for about two or three years and they finally took me on their staff there and I ended up as sports editor of The Sunday Telegraph for 13 years.
“Then later I was headhunted again – I’m very fortunate – The Mail on Sunday when it launched. It was the last Sunday newspaper to launch and the most successful. I was there until I officially retired although they kept me on contract for three more years in ’98.”
He comes from Grays in Essex.
“Went to school, there, I met my wife there and got married there,” he says.
He’s had an incredible amount of highlights but one stands out.
“Oh the World Cup in 1966 undoubtedly,” he says. “I’m rather proud of this because West Ham beat West Germany. You notice I just said West Ham beat West Germany 4-2 … because they (West Ham players, Geoff Hurst with three and Martin Peters with one) scored all the goals. And I wrote that headline: West Ham 4, Germany 2.
“That was one. I suppose, gosh, there’ve been a lot. Another highlight, nothing to do with covering sports, was when I organized the Sports Journalists’ Association 50th anniversary at the Hilton Hotel in London in 1998 with Princess Anne as the patron. I got together 50 of our previous winners and we lined them all up on the stage and the seats — and the Princess came and sat in the middle and we had the glorious photograph.”
Last month, the SJA of Great Britain voted unanimously at their Annual General Meeting Bond should be elected as an Honourary Member. He joins an élite band of former SWA/SJA members.
“I’m very proud of that,” Bond says. “There are 11 others and that’s dating back to when the association was formed in 1948.”
Aside from being on the AIPS staff here, he’s assistant executive editor working with Roslyn Morris on AIPS Magazine.
Bond’s favourite James Bond is Connery; his favourite Bond movie is From Russia with Love. Best move of his life? Marrying Jan. Trevor and Jan Bond will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary on July 23 proving without doubt in their lives — another ‘Connery as Bond’ movie from 1971 says it all — Diamonds Are Forever.
