John Alexander Graves III (August 6, 1920 – July 31, 2013) was an American writer known for his book Goodbye to a River.

He subsequently served as a captain in the Marine Corps during World War II, until being wounded by a Japanese grenade on the island of Saipan.

His narrative chronicle of the trip was first published as a magazine article in Holiday, and later Graves added history, philosophy and folklore which resulted in his first major book, Goodbye to a River (1960).

His writing about the farm and country life continued, with Hard Scrabble: Observations on a Patch of Land, published in 1974, and From a Limestone Ledge (1980).

The latter, which collected essays that Graves had published in Texas Monthly magazine, was also nominated for a National Book Award.