Cork Graham

Frederick Graham (born November 29, 1964), who writes under the name Cork Graham, is an American author of adventure memoir and political thriller fiction novels. He is a former combat photographer, who was imprisoned in Vietnam for illegally entering the country while supposedly looking for treasure buried by Captain Kidd.

Background As a boy, Cork Graham lived in Saigon, South Vietnam, from 1968 to 1972 his father working there as an electrical engineer. He enrolled in the College of San Mateo and became a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity, but he dropped out without graduating. "I knew I had a story," Graham later said, "whether you find treasure or not." In November a provincial court found them both guilty of illegally landing on Vietnamese territory and assessed each a $10,000 fine. Graham said "I feel great" when he arrived in Bangkok on his way home from Ho Chi Minh City. Kenneth Crutchlow, a British businessman who owned a taxi business (London Transport of Sonoma) heard of the capture of Knight and donated $8,000 for Knight's release.

While Graham and Knight were released in 1984, the two Thai boatmen who accompanied them remained in captivity. They were finally released after 44 months in captivity when Crutchlow paid the Vietnamese Embassy in Bangkok $6,000.

Post incident Graham returned to America lighter than when he had left home, He has provided consulting services on PTSD,

In June 2011, he became a weekly columnist for Human Events, focusing on the United States Constitution and the Second Amendment.

He appeared on Discovery Channel’s 2015 series Treasure Quest: Snake Island as the treasure hunting team’s leader during season one and two, where Discovery Channel used Graham’s personal history to bring credibility to a fully scripted reality TV show. This resulted in a tell-all whistleblower memoir on the media industry, titled So You Want to be a Reality TV Star: Everything I Learned About Sex, Drugs, Fraud, and Rock and Roll as Team Leader of Treasure Quest: Snake Island, where he claims most of the show was scripted and/or staged, with many of the treasure finds being cheaply made replicas. Graham persevered through a three-year lawsuit against the Discovery Corporation, in order to keep his First Amendment rights, and his memoir available on bookshelves.

Written works

Television/radio Treasure Quest: Snake Island (2015/2016) Myth Hunters: Finding Treasure Island Off of Vietnam (2014) Raiders of the Lost Past--The Hunt for Pirate's Treasure (2012) Cork's Outdoors (2009) – writer/host KFOG Morning Show (2006) – guest Good Morning America (1984) – guest