By Request, “Introducing… Simon Templar!”

Greetings ST, ‘Ettes, ‘Sieurs, and All!

His Graciously Unleashedness/Unwokeness has asked yours truly to reflect on his transformation from an “international man of mystery” (IMOM) to an instantly recognizable man of action/raconteur known as: “Simon Templar”. Therewith comes a tale.

Let me say at the outset that simplicity suits the truth best. A basis in facts, generously shared, can give creativity space to spread its wings. My earlier efforts to pay homage to ST’s “Lt. Dangerous” episode, led me to expect the unexpected regarding ST’s nom-de-guerre/nom-de-plume/nom-de-pixels. Join me, dear netizens of Unleashed/UnWoke as the story unfolds.

Surprisingly, the quest started off quite matter-of-factly:

First name first: “Simon”. ST isn’t certain where/when this moniker began, (“I’ve always been Simon, just Simon.”) but it stuck. Maybe, it’s from ‘Simon says…’, since his capacity for creative leadership was so close to the surface in his encounters with his “grunts” [enlisted Marines]? I’ll leave the answer to this in the annals of unwritten history, since further speculation about it will lead us further from the rest of the story.

Our background is a series of annual/semi-annual, coordinated drug-interdiction exercises [“Exercise Fuerzas Unidas-Contradrogas Riberena”] with partner nations all up and down the “spine” of the Andean Ridge (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela). Our soundtrack might include the strains of the Andean flute. Our setting (Iquitos, Peru on the Amazon Riverwalk) is a gathering of participants at a celebratory dinner marking the end of one such exercise. In the space between exquisitely-prepared (possibly exotic) foods, well-chosen drinks such as Chilean pisco (brandy), cigars, and camaraderie, anything can happen…

As the evening progressed, an unknown woman, who made her surroundings fade into the background, with a voice as sultry as the night air – and as lilting as a shepherd’s bells – made her way to the table where Simon and others were seated. Casting an appraising glance from one guest to another, her gaze rested on one in particular. She smiled, pointed at him, and said: “And you, you must be Simon… Yes, you are Simon: Simon Templar.”

She left them, as unexpectedly as she had come.

Thus, our Graciously Unleashedness/Unwokeness came to be known as “ST”. (Step aside, Sir Roger Moore.)