John Alexander Graves III (August 6, 1920 – July 31, 2013) was an American writer known for his book ''
Goodbye to a River''.
Biography
Early life
As a child growing up in
Fort Worth and at his grandfather's ranch in
Cuero, Graves was keenly interested in the landscape around him. He graduated from Rice Institute (now
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a private research university in Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranked among the top universities ...
) in 1942. He subsequently served as a captain in the Marine Corps during World War II, until being wounded by a Japanese grenade on the island of
Saipan.
After the war, he went to graduate school at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, receiving his master's degree in 1948. While still at Columbia, in 1947, he published the short story "Quarry" in ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
''; he continued to publish fiction in magazines through the 1950s.
Adult life
Following an early marriage and divorce, he traveled widely, spending considerable time in Spain and the
Canary Islands, but returned to Texas in 1957 to care for his father, who was gravely ill.
According to the Southwestern Writers Collection, which holds many of Graves's papers, "In November of that year, Graves completed a three-week canoe trip down part of the Brazos River that he feared was about to be changed forever by dams. His narrative chronicle of the trip was first published as a magazine article in ''
Holiday'', and later Graves added history, philosophy and folklore which resulted in his first major book, ''
Goodbye to a River'' (1960). The book attracted national attention and critical praise for its original style. It won the Carr P. Collins Award of the Texas Institute of Letters in 1961 and was nominated for a
National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors.
The Nat ...
that year."
In 1970, Graves and his family moved onto a property near
Glen Rose, Texas
Glen Rose is a city in and the county seat of Somervell County, Texas, United States. As of the 2012 census estimate, the city population was 2,502.
History
19th century
The area was first settled in 1849 by Charles Barnard, who opened a tradin ...
that Graves had named Hard Scrabble. His writing about the farm and country life continued, with ''Hard Scrabble: Observations on a Patch of Land'', published in 1974, and ''From a Limestone Ledge'' (1980). The latter, which collected essays that Graves had published in ''
Texas Monthly
''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. ''Texas Monthly'' was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy and has been published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. since 1998 and is ...
'' magazine, was also nominated for a National Book Award.
Graves continued to write about the environment and about Texas. On July 31, 2013, he died at his home near Glen Rose, Texas, at the age of 92.
Further reading
*''
Goodbye to a River'', 1960
*''Hard Scrabble'', 1974
*''From a Limestone Ledge'', 1980
*''Blue & Some Other Dogs'', 1981
*''A John Graves Reader'', 1995
*''The Last Running'', 1999
*''Texas Rivers'', 2002
*''Texas Hill Country'', 2003
*''Myself and Strangers'', 2004
*''My Dogs and Guns'', 2007
Archival sources
The John Graves Papers1920-2006 (49 linear feet) are housed at the Wittliff Collections,
Texas State University
Texas State University is a public research university in San Marcos, Texas. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has grown to the second largest university in the Greater Austin metropolitan area and the fifth largest university ...
in
San Marcos
San Marcos is the Spanish name of Saint Mark. It may also refer to:
Towns and cities Argentina
* San Marcos, Salta
Colombia
* San Marcos, Antioquia
* San Marcos, Sucre
Costa Rica
* San Marcos, Costa Rica (aka San Marcos de Tarrazú)
...
.
References
*''John Graves, Writer'', (excerpt a
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graves, John
American male writers
Columbia University alumni
People from Fort Worth, Texas
Rice University alumni
2013 deaths
1920 births
Writers from Texas
United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II
People from Glen Rose, Texas
People from Cuero, Texas
United States Marine Corps officers
Military personnel from Texas