The Author
AUTHOR
Graham Broyd
GRAHAM BROYD is a British-American businessman, writer, and athlete. Born in Dorking, England, he went to school in Bedford and then Liverpool, before taking two gap years working and hitch- hiking around Europe. In 1978, he went to Birmingham University to study International Relations.
After graduation, Graham started a career in international banking, with his primary purposes being to travel and earn some money—in that order of priority. His first assignments were to New York and the Republic of Panama. Graham spent almost forty years in banking, his time mostly split between New York and London, before retiring in 2024. He was a CEO of the North American businesses of the Royal Bank of Scotland and Mr. Fix-It when the bank encountered existential problems after the global financial crisis in 2008.
After his retirement, Graham found his writing voice. A lifetime storyteller, Graham wanted to write down the twenty hitchhiking stories he had told for more than forty years from his original trip to America in 1980. On hearing the stories, friends had always encouraged him to write a book. And so he did.
Graham is married to Betsy, who he met in Manhattan back in 1982. They have a son, James, and a daughter, Peyton, both now married and living in the New York area.
Graham’s first book, The Panama Canal Treaties: The diplomacy and economics behind the treaty that changed the international order, was published in 2024.
The Panama Canal Treaties
The Panama Canal Treaties of 1977. The dramatic events that forced President Carter and Omar Torrijos to negotiate the handing over of the Panama Canal Zone.
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Backpack Jacket Surfboard
In 1980, Graham Broyd did something outrageous—he sold his scholarship ticket to Washington, DC, bought a one-way flight to Los Angeles, and set off to hitchhike across America.
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Faster Than You at 60
The life backstories of twenty two track sprinters – 100, 200 and 400 meter runners and hurdlers – all over the age of 60, all US National or World Champions.