In my early twenties I started studying. I had been a mediocre student who l left school at 16, admittedly with a diploma called The Cambridge Overseas School Certificate. Then I started work doing an office job with an insurance company, started dating and boozing and all the other things a young guy growing up in the 50's and 60's did do. In 1961 I was called up - drafted as Americans say - into the Army. This brought home to me, just after I was 19 years old, that I didn't know very much and understood less; so I went on a drive to learn more. At first I studied Insurance but apart from Law that was boring. I led a relatively privileged life in Rhodesia in Central Africa and enjoyed those privileges. However, I felt there was something missing, something wrong so I set out to find out what it was. The first thing I did was study Religion, starting with Christianity. here I read the entire Bible. Literally. After that came Buddhism, Scientology, Judaism, Islam and Hinduism mixed in with the Tao Te Ching and the I Ching. My Buddhist studies were mainly the Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin from Japan. Sukyo Mahikari, not really a Religion but beyond a Philosophy was the last formal organisation I looked at. I also looked at Wicca, Druidism and Paganism, finally centering my attention on the works of Vladimir Megre of the Ringing Cedars of Russia ~ the books of Anastasia. Concurrently with these studies I also looked at Politics and History as it related to Politics. This intrigued me so much that I joined a political party and became Constituency Chairman, a member of a Divisional Council and on the National Executive. I learned a lot, especially about my adopted country. And here my job was a godsend for I became an Inspector - the technical 'expert' who guided agents and brokers and customers in the technicalities of Short term - or Casualty - Insurance. And this meant that I could and did travel all over the country. I could no longer tolerate living in my own country after it gained a so called independence so moved south to the Republic of South Africa. Here I continued my studies and started writing books as well as designing policies of insurance, lecturing at University and to Insurance officials. It was here that I realised. whilst helping a disadvantaged area to raise their consciousness and become independent that I actually had something to offer the world. My writing to transmit what I had learned and am still learning from life became a full time occupation, almost an obsession. My first books were published in South Africa and people enjoyed and used them. However it seemed to me that writing dry factual books did not allow me to reach the people I wanted to reach. Accordingly I changed my writing to fiction but based on fact, with historical background as far as possible accurately portrayed. The first such novel ~ The Merchants of Chaos ~ was written in South Africa but published when I moved to England. Other books followed and to date I have written 14 of various genres and am a third of the way through my fifteenth. It has been a wonderful journey and I am thrilled that is is not over! There is so much to do and experience in this wonderful world of ours as we circle the sun. The name I write under ~ Ralpapajan ~ came about when I first published on Amazon via Lulu. I have a buying account at CO.UK. This was linked to my Debit Card. Then I got a Sales account. And after awhile got a congratulatory letter as I had reached the New York Best Sellers list PLUS I was one of their top sellers. After coming back to earth I asked Amazon where my money was and they said they had sent it to me. I found that there were two other Rob Thurman's - one is a young lady who IS a NYT Bestseller. The other is a successful porn writer! So I made up a new name comprised of my family's initials for during all this study I did find time to marry and raise a family of three daughters and a son.

As a child - Government recognition as a writer.
As an adult I hold professional status A.A.T(SA) ~ an Associate of the Academy of Advanced Training.