Senator Edward Kennedy, who died last week after a protracted bout with brain cancer, remained energetic and dtermined to enjoy life right up until the end.  According to the New York Times, his final days consisted, amongst other things, of watching each and every James Bond film, as well as every episode of 24.

One hopes this marathon did not include Never Say Never Again; I shudder to think how big a waste of time that movie would feel with the Grim Reaper idling in the driveway.

This is not the first time a Kennedy’s name has been associated with the James Bond franchise.  In 1961, President John F. Kennedy included Ian Fleming’s From Russia, with Love on a list of his ten favorite books.  The list was part of an article in Life magazine; the Bond novel was the only work of fiction on President Kennedy’s list, and the resultant publicity has been credited with doing much to put the Bond novels in enough limelight to make them attractive to film producers.  (The first 007 film, Dr. No, debuted some nineteen months after the Life article.)

New to the franchise is Peter Morgan, best known as the playwright and screenwriter of Frost/Nixon.  Morgan’s other credits include The Queen and The Last King of Scotland.

Morgan will be joined on Bond 23 by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, who co-wrote both Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace.

Sebastian Faulks’ James Bond continuation novel, Devil May Care, has scored the Sainsbury’s Popular Fiction Award, while Stephanie Meyers’ Breaking Dawn took home the title of WHSmith Children’s Book of the Year.

Meyer was also nominated for the Borders Author of the Year.  She, along with some chap named Barack Obama, lost the award to Aravind Adiga.