: About Me

John Graham is somewhat of a renaissance man. He was born in Great Britain in 1933. He is a nuclear physicist by training and a writer by avocation. Having lived and worked in four countries, traveled extensively throughout the world and is now raising his second family, he has a wealth of experience from which to draw. His wife, Emmy Roos, is a Belgian who also writes.

Graham's first book was the definitive book on Fast Reactor Safety, which was used as a teaching text in 11 major US universities. Then came an international book on the marathon, which sold 74,000 copies. Two chess books, a biographical portrait of a twentieth century woman, a compendium of thoughtful travel tales, a science fiction novel, a technical history of the use of nuclear power in space, and three novels followed. Two novels are set in China and Hong Kong, They are based on his extensive travels that have given him an insight into the oriental mind and culture. Other novels are based in Russia and Western Europe. He has just completed a short History of Painting, and a novel about the lives of a 16th Century Flemish painter, Petrus Vermissen, and his son, Jacobus, and his daughter, Ambrosia. These last four books have all been published in 2008. Contact me for discounts.

Graham has played competitive chess and edited an audio chess magazine for blind players for 34 years. He has run more than 80 marathons (best time 2:43:30) as well as races up to 70 miles. He enjoys gardening and reading when he is not writing.

Governor Rockefeller made him an honorary citizen of the State of West Virginia. He is also a Fulbright Fellow and a Fellow and Past President of the American Nuclear Society. Other awards include honorary membership of the International Braille Chess Association, and appointment as a Distinguished Toastmaster.

My passion is ...

writing

I know too much about ...

nuclear science

My parents always told me ...

to be honest and to respect women

My childhood ambition ...

to be a 'nobel prize' winner in mathematics still waiting

My favorite memory ...

meeting my second wife over breakfast in Lyons

Why I write ...

I enjoy choosing the right words and creating a feeling

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

"East of Eden", by John Steinbeck, a much greater novel than the film of the same name.

My first job ...

Bus conductor

My best moment ...

winning a 'first' in mathematics

My inspiration ...

Dylan Thomas and John Steinbeck

Arts & Humanities > Literature (Other) Commentary: The need to read

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I have never thought of reading as a hobby' and rarely have I used it as an escape.' The human being is a thinking animal. That's what separates a human from all other animals. All animals eat, sleep, exhaust waste, and react to experience, but a human being also thinks. Thus, the human's accumulation of knowledge for use is as natural to a human as lifting a leg against a tree is to a dog. A child from his first day accumulates knowledge, first by exploration through all its senses and then, as it becomes adept at the deciphering of symbols, by reading. Thus reading is not a hobby or an e...

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