James Patterson was born in Newburgh, New York, on March 22, 1947. He graduated from Manhattan College in 1969 and received a M. A. from Vanderbilt University in 1970. His first novel, The Thomas Berryman Number, was written while he was working in a mental institution and was rejected by 26 publishers before being published and winning the Edgar Award for Best First Mystery. He is best known as the creator of Alex Cross, the police psychologist hero of such novels as Along Came a Spider and Kiss the Girls. Cross has been portrayed on the silver screen by Morgan Freeman. He also writes the Women's Murder Club series, as well as the Maximum Ride series, Daniel X series, the Witch and Wizard… series, and the Middle School series for children. He has won numerous awards including the BCA Mystery Guild's Thriller of the Year, the International Thriller of the Year award, and the Reader's Digest Reader's Choice Award. He also made The New York Times Best Seller List for 2012 with his title I Funny: A Middle School Story and again in 2013 with his title Middle School: Get Me Out of Here!, 12th of Never, Alex Cross, Run, Confessions: The Private School Murders, Cross My Heart and The Christmas Wedding. Patterson is the co-author of Guilty Wives (2012) and Mistress (2013) with David Ellis. First Love, co-authored with Emily Raymond, made the New York Times bestseller list in January, 2014. James Patterson co-authored Private L.A. with Mark Sullivan and it made The New York Times Best Seller List in March 2014. Patterson also made The New York Times Best Seller List with Unlucky 13, Invisible, Treasure Hunters: Danger Down the Nile, and children's title Ultimate Showdown, book 5 in the Middle Scholl Series, in 2014.Maxine Paetro is a novelist and a journalist. From 1975 through 1987 she was a recruiter and EVP creative department manager at several large New York City advertising agencies. In 1979 Paetro published her first book---How to Put Your Book Together and Get a Job in Advertising---which received its 4th revision in August 2010. She has co-authored many books with James Patterson for the New York Times bestselling Women's Murder Club Series, beginning with the fourth book, The 4th of July and the bestselling young adult Confessions Series . Maxine Paetro's title 11th Hour with James Patterson made The New York Times Best Seller List for 2012. Also, in 2013 her title 12th of Never with James Patterson made the New York Times Best Seller List.James Patterson was born in Newburgh, New York, on March 22, 1947. He graduated from Manhattan College in 1969 and received a M. A. from Vanderbilt University in 1970. His first novel, The Thomas Berryman Number, was written while he was working in a mental institution and was rejected by 26 publishers before being published and winning the Edgar Award for Best First Mystery. He is best known as the creator of Alex Cross, the police psychologist hero of such novels as Along Came a Spider and Kiss the Girls. Cross has been portrayed on the silver screen by Morgan Freeman. He also writes the Women's Murder Club series, as well as the Maximum Ride series, Daniel X series, the Witch and Wizard series, and the Middle School series for children. He has won numerous awards including the BCA Mystery Guild's Thriller of the Year, the International Thriller of the Year award, and the Reader's Digest Reader's Choice Award. He also made The New York Times Best Seller List for 2012 with his title I Funny: A Middle School Story and again in 2013 with his title Middle School: Get Me Out of Here!, 12th of Never, Alex Cross, Run, Confessions: The Private School Murders, Cross My Heart and The Christmas Wedding. Patterson is the co-author of Guilty Wives (2012) and Mistress (2013) with David Ellis. First Love, co-authored with Emily Raymond, made the New York Times bestseller list in January, 2014. James Patterson co-authored Private L.A. with Mark Sullivan and it made The New York Times Best Seller List in March 2014. Patterson also made The New York Times Best Seller List with Unlucky 13, Invisible, Treasure Hunters: Danger Down the Nile, and children's title Ultimate Showdown, book 5 in the Middle Scholl Series, in 2014.Maxine Paetro is a novelist and a journalist. From 1975 through 1987 she was a recruiter and EVP creative department manager at several large New York City advertising agencies. In 1979 Paetro published her first book---How to Put Your Book Together and Get a Job in Advertising---which received its 4th revision in August 2010. She has co-authored many books with James Patterson for the New York Times bestselling Women's Murder Club Series, beginning with the fourth book, The 4th of July and the bestselling young adult Confessions Series . Maxine Paetro's title 11th Hour with James Patterson made The New York Times Best Seller List for 2012. Also, in 2013 her title 12th of Never with James Patterson made the New York Times Best Seller List.
Evangelist Billy Graham was born November 7, 1918. He was raised on a dairy farm in Charlotte, North Carolina during the Depression. When he was sixteen, during the fall of 1934, he made a commitment to Christ. Graham graduated from the Florida Bible Institute in 1940 and received and B.A. from Wheaton College in 1943. After graduation from Wheaton College, he married fellow student Ruth McCue Bell, the daughter of a missionary surgeon. Graham was ordained to the ministry by a church in the Southern Baptist Convention in 1939. He was the Pastor of the First Baptist Church in Western Springs, IL from 1943-45. He was also Charter Vice President for Youth for Christ International in Chicago,… IL from 1945-50. He was President of Northwestern Schools from 1947-52. In 1950, he founded the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in Minneapolis and began the weekly "Hour of Decision" radio program. Graham has written numerous books and some of the titles include "World Aflame" (1965), which was on the New York Times and Times Magazines best sellers list, "Angels: God's Secret Agents" (1975), which received the ECPA Platinum Book Award, "The Holy Spirit" (1978), which received the ECPA Gold Book Award, "Approaching Hoofbeats: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" (1983), which received the ECPA Gold Book Award and "Just As I Am" (1997) is an autobiography that tells his story as the son of a dairy farmer whose faith in Christ shaped his career and Nearing Home: Life, Faith, and Finishing Well. In 2013, his title The Reason for My Hope: Salvation made The New York Times Best Seller List. Billy Graham has received an enormous amount of awards throughout his career, which includes being one of the Ten Most Admired Men in the World from the Gallup Poll forty two times, more than any other person in the world. He has also received the Distinguished Service Medal from the Salvation Army, been in Who's Who in America annually since 1954, received the Gold Medal Award from the National Institute of Social Science in 1957, named Big Brother of the Year in 1966, and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1983, which is the highest civilian award, and the Congressional Gold Medal, which is the highest honor Congress can bestow on a private citizen in 1996. He has received many honorary degrees and Presidents have sought out his counsel. He has been honored for his work on behalf of the welfare of children, his efforts to foster better understanding among all faiths, his contributions to race relations and his contributions to the cause of freedom. Billy Graham and his ministry are known throughout the world and have conducted preaching missions in virtually every country of the former Eastern block, including the former Soviet Union.