My name is Deane Barker, and I created The Dead Drop in Summer 2026. I posted to myself for a few months until I was sure the idea had some staying power, then I opened it up to a few friends.
I have been a fan of spy movies, novels, and TV shows since seeing For Your Eyes Only as 10-year-old on my first weekend at my Dad’s place after my parents divorced (Mom would have been appalled). I’m additionally fascinated by real-world stores of intrigue, espionage, and derring-do.
In the late 1990s, I was an editor for a notable James Bond fan site called Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.) I was an early blogger back in the early 2000s (I wrote extensively about this history in a related book review), and I miss it. The Dead Drop is purposefully old school – local comments, permalinks, no social media tie-in, etc. I have a weird feeling that we’re missing the human connection we got from The Golden Age of Blogging.
This blog is just a place for me to accumulate interesting things I find and remember. The content will be eclectic, but will no-doubt heavy on James Bond, and 1980s movies and TV (I was born in 1971, so my impressionable teenage years were in the 80s).
In this end, this is just a labor of love from a guy who is old enough to indulge a lifelong hobby. I hope people come experience it with me.
In my day job, I work in enterprise software. I live in Sioux Falls, South Dakota with my wife and three adult children.
I’m very easy to get in touch with.