Milford native publishes first novel

For her first book, no one can say Milford’s Lynda Graham-Rowe wasn’t ambitious.

The book, titled “Love, Truth, Death and Sean Connery,” is a fictional biography of the late screen legend, which puts a human face on the larger-than-life former Agent 007. 

Graham-Rowe, a former French teacher in Lincoln, Neb., gives a fictionalized telling of an unlikely friendship between a teacher named Frank Mitchell and Connery. 

The character of Frank Mitchell is based on a real fellow teacher Graham-Rowe knew who had a way of telling fantastical tales, including stories about being an assassin for the CIA and one about how he was friends with Sean Connery. The book then delves into a version of how their relationship began and played out over time, with the story drawing in the likes of Connery’s wife, Micheline, and even Quentin Tarantino.

Born in Germany to a French mother, Graham-Rowe grew up an army kid, moving around among France, Germany, Seattle and Baltimore. After her father retired, he moved the family to Milford. Marriages, children and her teaching career led her to Lincoln, where she taught French for 26 years. After retiring from teaching, Graham-Rowe moved back to Milford to be near her mother.

Lincoln is where Graham-Rowe met the man who would inspire Frank Mitchell. He claimed his relationship with Connery started in the late 1950s, before he became famous. In the book, the two men are connected by a relationship with a woman named Loretta. 

Teaching came naturally to Graham-Rowe; she said her family on her mother’s side included a long line of teachers. She grew up bilingual, speaking French and English, and the profession came naturally to her. The majority of her teaching career was at Lincoln High School in Nebraska.

Graham-Rowe said the book took a long time for her to write. She started in 2009 and worked through fits and starts to finally self-publish it in 2021.

As for what kept her going, Graham-Rowe said, “I’d leave it for a couple of years and something would come up or someone would ask ‘What happened to the book?’ And I’d think, ‘Darn it, I should really do something with it,’ and I’d pull it out again.”

Having finished off her first book, Graham-Rowe is now working on her second book, “Impasse,” which she said is completely different from the Connery book, and a memoir. 

“Love, Truth, Death and Sean Connery” can be purchased through Rowe’s website, lyndagrahamrowe.square.site, at Browseabout Books in Rehoboth Beach and through Amazon.