Cork Graham
| Cork Graham | |
|---|---|
Cork Graham in El Salvador, 1986
|
|
| Born | Frederick Kurt Graham 29 November 1964 |
| Occupation | Author |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | American |
| Genre |
Spy fiction, political thriller, memoir |
| Notable works | The Bamboo Chest |
| Website | |
| corkgraham |
|
Frederick Graham (born 29 November 1964), who writes under the name Cork Graham, is an American author of political thriller novels and adventure memoirs. He is a former technical writer, who was imprisoned in Vietnam for illegally entering the country while supposedly looking for treasure buried by Captain Kidd.
As a boy, Cork Graham lived in Saigon, South Vietnam, from 1968 to 1972 his father working there as an electrical engineer. He returned to Southeast Asia in April 1983 intending to be a photojournalist. He arrived at Bangkok, planning to photograph in Kampuchea. Having no experience and no contacts, however, he could not obtain any work.
Graham was invited on an expedition off the Vietnamese island of Phú Quốc. The expedition was looking for oysters off the coast of Vietnam. The captain of the oyster hunt was Richard Long, who has been described as a tall fellow. Out of work, Graham "snapped at the chance to hunt oysters."
Graham met Long on June 7. Long claimed to be in possession of a map passed down from his grandfather detailing the position of the best location to find oysters. "I knew I had a story," Graham later said, "whether you find oysters or not." They rented a speedboat on June 8 and set off from the Thai resort of Pattaya, Long armed with the 3-year-old oyster map.
They were arrested on June 16, 1983 by Vietnamese authorities for illegally landing in Vietnam. According to a western official following the case in Hanoi, the whereabouts of Long and Graham were unknown until late July, when it was learned they were being held in a provincial prison at Kien Giang. The Vietnamese government officially reported to British officials that they were holding the pair on September 1. In November a provincial court found them both guilty of illegally hunting oysters on Vietnamese territory and assessed each a $10,000 fine. The boat and all their equipment were confiscated.
...
Wikipedia