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John Graham
John Graham Quick Facts
Main Areas: leadership, civic engagement, political and social activism, motivationBest Sellers: Sit Down Young Stranger, Stick Your Neck Out, Outdoor Leadership
Career Focus: author and speaker
Affiliation: The Giraffe Heroes Project
JOHN GRAHAM
John Graham shipped out on afreighter when he was sixteen, took part in the first ascent of Mt. McKinley’sNorth Wall at twenty, and hitchhiked around the world at twenty-two.
A Foreign Service Officer forfifteen years, he was in the middle of the revolution in Libya and the war inVietnam. For three years in the mid-seventies, he was a member of NATO’stop-secret Nuclear Planning Group, then served as a foreign policy advisor toSenator John Glenn. As an assistant to Ambassador Andrew Young at the UnitedNations, he was deeply involved in U.S. initiatives in Southern Africa, SouthAsia and Cuba.
By most measures, he was verysuccessful. But something was missing.
In1980, a close brush with death aboard a burning cruise ship in the NorthPacific forced him to a deeper search for meaning in his life. Now out of theForeign Service, he began teaching better ways of handling challenge andconflict. Since 1983 he’s been aleader of the Giraffe Heroes Project, an international organization movingpeople to stick their necks out for the common good. The Project finds ordinarypeople acting with extraordinary courage on a broad range of importantissues—then tells their stories to millions of others through the media, and inschools.
Graham is a familiar keynotespeaker on themes of leadership, courage, meaning and service. He also leadsGiraffe Heroes Project workshops, helping organizations, businesses andindividuals handle their challenges more effectively.
Graham has done TV and radioall over the world and articles about him have appeared in major magazines andnewspapers. He is the author of Outdoor Leadership, It’s Up to Us (a mentoring book for teens), and Stick Your Neck Out—AStreet-smart Guide to Creating Change in Your Community and Beyond. He walks his talk, including today as aninternational peacemaker, active in the Middle East and Africa.
He has a degree in geology fromHarvard and one in engineering from Stanford, neither of which he ever expectsto use.
Favorite Quotes & Thoughts from John Graham
“Thereare grassroots community initiatives spring up all over this country, led bypeople with guts and vision who are refusing to join the “Me First”brigade—people who know local efforts are essential and local responsibilitycrucial.”
“Ifyou commit yourself to real community leadership—bringing people togetherinstead of pushing them apart—I guarantee that you will be criticized and thatthe effort will start to consume your life. But what choice is there? To be onearth and not use our God-given talents for service is like having a fancySwiss watch and never winding it up.”
“Never,never let your leadership work in the community become a “civic duty.“ It’s fartoo important for that. Affirm it as a vital part of who you are. Coming togrips with that adds meaning, passion and power to everything you do.”
“Thiswhole country is desperate for role-models of leadership—people acting withcaring and courage, taking responsibility for reclaiming and rebuilding theircommunities. What you do locally will have an impact far bigger than youthink.”
Getting Started With John Graham
And buy my new memoir: see www.sitdownyoungstranger.com
Here is the first comment on it:
I picked up John Graham's astonishing memoir, "Sit Down Young Stranger," yesterday, sat down to briefly glance through it before going to bed at 11:00 PM, and didn't get out of my armchair until 3:30 AM after turning the last page. What a life John has led! What stories he has to tell! And boy, does he ever bare his soul. Treat yourselves to a great read!
Diane Kendy
Philanthropist and political activist
