Sean Connery to unveil memoir
LONDON (AP) -June 12, 2008 The former James Bond star, a high-profile Scottish nationalist,
will launch "Being a Scot" on Aug. 25, his 78th birthday.
The first - and, many say, the best - actor to play 007 on the
big screen, Connery is a vocal supporter of the pro-independence
Scottish National Party. He lives in the Bahamas and has said he
will not reside in Scotland until it gains independence from the
United Kingdom.
In a six-decade career, the former Edinburgh milkman also
starred in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," "The Hunt for
Red October" and "The Untouchables," which earned him an Academy
Award for best supporting actor.
"This book has gone through more permutations than James Bond
has had shaken not stirred martinis - different co-writers,
different publishers," festival director Catherine Lockerbie said.
She said the memoir, written with Scottish filmmaker Murray
Grigor, would share Connery's views on "many aspects of Scottish
culture and life, including sport, architecture and, of course, the
gothic tendency in Scots literature."
Lockerbie said other James Bond-themed events would be held at
the festival to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of the
fictional spy's creator, Ian Fleming.
The Edinburgh event is one of Britain's leading literary
gatherings, and runs alongside jazz, comedy and performing arts
festivals in the Scottish capital each August.
Among the 800 authors appearing at the Aug. 9-25 festival are
Salman Rushdie, Louis de Bernieres and Margaret Atwood.