JOHN DAVID GRAHAM is the founder of Good Samaritan Home, a housing / mentoring program helping men and women restart their lives after prison. Prior to that, he was a door-to-door salesman, children’s home counselor, substitute school teacher, truck driver, fireman, building contractor, minister and journalist. Sometimes the road home takes many twists and turns, requiring the necessary time and experience to develop what he calls the “calloused hands and tender heart” needed to write this story.
He gives all the credit for the success of Good Samaritan Home, and the completion of his novel, to Kathy, his wife of forty-seven years. “She has given me the strength to go on whenever the going seemed impossible. She has been, and will always be, my best friend.”
John has just completed a fiction book titled Running As Fast As I Can that follows the life of Daniel Robinson as he struggles to overcome generations of poverty, neglect, and abuse that have left him totally incapable of the life, and love, he desperately wants.
John is a member of the San Antonio Writers’ Guild and the Writers’ League of Texas.
He is the author of an academic book, Citizen Circle: A Mentoring Model for Rehabilitating Ex-offenders in Darke County, Ohio, that documents the positive impact that mentoring ex-offenders has on the community.
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“Running As Fast As I Can is a genuine page-turner. A good writer makes you either laugh or cry. John David Graham did both. Daniel’s story had me struggling at times to read through my tears. Graham is a truly great author, in my view, because long after putting the book aside, the characters still live with you. Graham takes you into their world to walk in their shoes, to feel what they feel, to think what they think, and to know what they know. You learn with them. You love with them. You cry with them. And in the end, you draw on the experiences you share with them to shape your view of the world. This book shines a light in dark corners. The author does not hold back in his judgment of human behavior and a society shaped by prejudices. But he reminds us that life is written in pencil so that we can erase a mistake and start over. As we join Daniel on his journey, I suspect most of us will reflect on the times we needed to erase a chapter and rewrite it. We ponder the race we are running; our own search for love, for a place to belong in the world, and for a way to light the path for those who struggle in a dark place. Running As Fast As I Can is told with deep compassion and understanding. It’s a story of love and forgiveness. Intensely emotional, it is also timely and relevant, highlighting social issues our society still struggles with today. It is, in my opinion, truly a masterpiece.”
— Lorraine Cobcroft for Readers’ Favorite