Historical Nonfiction Author
Historical Nonfiction Author
Headshots, cover art, bios, excerpts, and speaking topics for journalists, podcast hosts, historical societies, and event organizers. Everything here is free to use with credit to Andy McPhee.
✓ 2 narrative histories
✓ 8+ podcasts & lectures
✓ 5 speaking topics
Two-Page Media Kit
PDF · Bio, books, reviews, contact
Downloads
High-resolution files for print and digital use. Click any download to open the full-size file.
Biographies
Ready to use for introductions, programs, and show notes.
Short Bio · 50 words
Andy McPhee is a former critical care nurse and educational healthcare publisher who writes narrative nonfiction about the moral dilemmas at the heart of American medical and environmental history. He is the author of The Doctors’ Riot of 1788 (Prometheus Books) and Donora Death Fog (University of Pittsburgh Press). He lives in Saint Petersburg, Florida.
Full Bio
A former critical care nurse and educational healthcare publisher, Andy McPhee has also written four nonfiction books for young adults, written or edited more than 750 newspaper and magazine articles, and managed the publication from beginning to end of more than sixty healthcare textbooks and reference books.
He is a Fellow of the National Writing Project and earned two feature writing awards from the Association of Educational Publishers, now a division of the American Association of Publishers. He has presented writing seminars at national conferences, given writing webinars, and appeared on many podcasts for his books. He was an award-winning actor in community theaters in two states and also directed a number of plays and musicals.
Now retired, Andy has been married nearly 30 years. He and his wife have four children and five grandchildren. The couple live in Saint Petersburg, Florida, with their two dogs.
On Air & On Stage
Podcasts, history-society lectures, and readings featuring Andy McPhee.
July 1, 2026
Silver Disobedience
January 13, 2026
Books & Looks
January 8, 2026
Ordinary, Extraordinary Cemetery
January 7, 2026
Most Notorious
November 12, 2024
Sylvan Stool Lecture, C. F. Reynolds Medical History Society
July 16, 2024
Chester County History Center
February 24, 2024
Weather Brains: Bucket o’ Blood
May 4, 2023
Writers Association of Northern Appalachia Reading Series
Speaking Topics
Each talk can be adapted for in-person events, webinars, or podcast conversations.
01
Da Vinci himself was known to “snatch” bodies from graves and even hang around a hospital waiting for someone to die so he could study their body. Body snatching became essential in the mid- to late-1700s and throughout the 1800s, and is actually still around today. It just takes on a different, more subtle form.
02
A deadly six-day smog in a small mill town in Pennsylvania called Donora led directly to the nation’s first clean air act. This session provides historical context to the little-known tragedy to better understand the town’s and mills’ reactions.
03
This topic explores fundamental steps in creating a book, focusing mostly on traditional publishing but covering self-publishing as well. From forming an idea to writing a proposal and sample chapters to steps to expect in the publishing process.
04
Writing about tragic events and the people who experienced them requires that the writer understand the background of that particular moment in time and to slowly bring that backstory to the forefront. When the event “occurs,” the reader can then more fully comprehend what the event must have meant to people at the time.
05
An author’s own background informs their writing in sometimes surprising ways. This topic explores ways to make sure that one’s background and experiences don’t get lost in the story.
Book Andy
Book clubs, historical societies, medical humanities programs, and podcasts — virtual or in person.
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