Jim Graham, for five decades, believed he was a member of the Graham family, from a lower-middle-class neighborhood, several miles east of Buffalo, NY. The revelation that he was not, shocked him. To make his story more intriguing, Jim was not adopted. Truth can be stranger than fiction. He quickly realized that he was a pawn in a scheme to protect the Catholic Church from a public scandal. Kathryn Graham, who he believed to be his aunt and was not, unsympathetically told him, “It had to be this way.” She went on to say, “We are all dealt a hand in life; it comes down to how we play it.” The hand that he was dealt was a game of seven card stud poker, with only one card turned up. The following 25 years, he persevered, putting together the pieces of his life that he was denied.

Although Jim is not an adoptee, his compelling and poignant memoir, Buried Truth, deals with issues often experienced by adoptees. Did my parents love me? How could they give me up? Is there value in researching my past? Will I be able to acquire records that document my history? Am I better off not knowing the facts that led to being separated from my parents?

Jim’s childhood was disturbing since the father figure in the house in which he was raised was unfatherly. John Graham, John’s spinster sister Kathryn, and their mother Stella, were coerced by the church to raise Jim, to appear to be John’s son. The purpose was to hide the identity of Jim’s biological father, Father Thomas S. Sullivan, a Roman Catholic priest. John Graham died in 1979. For years, Jim felt guilty that he was not emotional when the man he thought to be his father passed. In 1993, just months after the death of the priest, a member of the Graham family leaked the secret; John Graham was not Jim’s father, a deceased priest was. Immediately, the church directed the Grahams to put the genie back in the bottle, denying Jim any further information about his father. The heartache for Jim was twofold; he never knew his father, plus the Grahams and the church stonewalled Jim for decades about his history.

Jim will describe his journey of courage and perseverance. Like a detective, he followed the money trail, recovered documents, and networked with strangers and friends of his parents, some willing to provide information, others not. In the end, Jim proved what the Grahams and the church denied him: Father Thomas Sullivan was his father. Jim is an advocate for other abused and neglected children of priests worldwide. His story of relentless determination is an inspiration for anyone attempting to fulfill a quest riddled with challenges.

About Jim
Jim Graham is the author of Buried Truth, a Poignant Story of a Man’s Search for His Father, Exposing Powerful Forces Bent on Hiding the Truth, which was published in August 2025.

Jim was born in July 1945 in Buffalo, NY, and graduated from high school at Williamsville South, NY. He worked for American Airlines from 1963 to 1976, in numerous positions. Jim was drafted into the Army in May of 1966, served 12 months in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta. In 1976, Jim left American Airlines to start his own businesses in sales and marketing, which he ran for 30 years. Since 2008, Jim has been retired and living in South Carolina with his wife, Melodie.