Ralph Graves (writer)
Encyclopedia
Ralph Graves is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 reporter, editor, and writer. He has authored several novels and has edited and contributed to famous periodicals such as Life
Life
Life is a characteristic that distinguishes objects that have signaling and self-sustaining processes from those that do not, either because such functions have ceased , or else because they lack such functions and are classified as inanimate...

 magazine.

Life

Ralph Augustus Graves (more commonly known as Ralph Graves) was born October 17, 1924 in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 to Elizabeth and Ralph Graves. His father was the founding editor of National Geographic.

His mother later married Francis Sayres, the last United States High Commissioner to the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

 and the family resided there in the U.S. Embassy during his term. Graves was a high school student at the time of their arrival. They were evacuated from the embassy on Christmas Eve 1941 to the headquarters of General Douglas MacArthur in Corregidor
Corregidor
Corregidor Island, locally called Isla ng Corregidor, is a lofty island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in southwestern part of Luzon Island in the Philippines. Due to this location, Corregidor was fortified with several coastal artillery and ammunition magazines to defend the entrance of...

, living in underground bunkers until escaping to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 by submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

 early in 1942.http://www.wiredforbooks.org/ralphgraves/index.htm

Graves served in the U.S. Army Air Force during the Second World War. His service began in 1943 and concluded in 1945. Graves attained the rank of sergeant
Sergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....

 before leaving the armed forces
Armed forces
The armed forces of a country are its government-sponsored defense, fighting forces, and organizations. They exist to further the foreign and domestic policies of their governing body, and to defend that body and the nation it represents from external aggressors. In some countries paramilitary...

.

Graves attended Williams College
Williams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams. Originally a men's college, Williams became co-educational in 1970. Fraternities were also phased out during this...

 and later, Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 where he was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society. He earned his B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 from Harvard, being graduated in 1948.

Graves married Patricia Monser in 1950. Graves' marriage to Monser produced two children before the couple divorced. Graves remarried to Eleanor Mackenzie in 1958 and they also had two children.

Graves currently resides in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 and has second home in Sarasota, Florida.

Professional career

Graves was employed as a writer and reporter at Life magazine from 1948 to 1958. He steadily rose through the ranks at Life magazine, serving as the articles editor, the assistant managing editor, and the managing editor before leaving the publication in 1972. Graves moved to Time, Inc. where he served as the senior staff editor and editorial director, among other positions. Graves currently is a writer and holds a chair on the Citizens' Crime Commission of New York.

Literary works

Graves' writing career began in 1949 with the publication of Thanks for the Ride. His second book, The Lost Eagles, was published in 1955. This is a historical novel in which a fictional Roman, Severus Varus, searches for the legionary emblems lost by his kinsman, Quintilius Varus, at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest took place in 9 CE, when an alliance of Germanic tribes led by Arminius of the Cherusci ambushed and decisively destroyed three Roman legions, along with their auxiliaries, led by Publius Quinctilius Varus.Despite numerous successful campaigns and raids by the...

.

After a long break from writing books during his time at Life magazine, Graves resumed his literary career with the publication of August People in 1985. This work was followed in 1989 by Share of Honor, an in-depth look into Graves' personal involvement with the Japanese
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...

 occupation of the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

 during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

Graves' novel, Orion: The Story of a Rape. was a fictionalized account of the rape of his daughter that occurred in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

 in 1983.

Selected bibliography

  • Thanks for the Ride (1949)

  • The Lost Eagles (1955)

  • August People (1985)

  • Share of Honor (1989)

  • Orion: The Story of a Rape: A Novel (1993)

  • Tables of Content (1993) (co-written with Eleanor Graves)

  • Martha's Vineyard: An Affectionate Memoir (1995) (co-written with Ray G. Ellis)

  • Champagne Kisses, Cyanide Dreams (2001)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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