About

Jeff Schnader was at Columbia University in 1972 where he participated in sit-ins, anti-war marches and protests against the Vietnam War. He took part in the demonstration in front of Hamilton Hall when students were beaten and hauled off to jail by the New York Tactical Police Force in full battle regalia, an experience he used as inspiration for true-to-life scenes in his historical novel, THE SERPENT PAPERS. The book is now a finalist in the Foreword Reviews Book of the Year Awards, 2022.

After graduating from Columbia in 1975 with a BA in physics, he received his MD, CM from McGill University, thereafter training at The Johns Hopkins University in Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine and Environmental Physiology. He became a full Professor of Medicine, authoring 50 scientific publications, including in the New England Journal of Medicine. He was a research scientist for over twenty years with grants from the American Lung Association, the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Veterans Affairs. He was President of the Ohio Thoracic Society and is a Fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians where he was a Trustee of the Chest Foundation and a Departmental Editor for the peer review journal, Chest. He has been awarded for exemplary teaching and editorial services. He was a guest expert on NPR Station WMUB’s show Sound Health, making over 20 appearances. He has spoken publicly several hundred times and has chaired over 30 panels at national conferences to audiences of hundreds of physicians. Finally, he worked in Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals, running an intensive care unit and a pulmonary outpatient clinic, serving the medical needs of American war veterans, including veterans of the Vietnam War, for twenty-two years.

THE SERPENT PAPERS, his first novel, was edited by Richard Marek (former President & Publisher of Dutton Books and editor for Ernest Hemingway, James Baldwin and Robert Ludlum). It was named "GRAND PRIZE 2ND PLACE: FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR WINNER," Independent Authors Network, 2023 ($500); "OUTSTANDING HISTORICAL FICTION WINNER" Independent Authors Network, 2023; and "Bronze Winner" in the Foreword Reviews Book of the Year Awards, 2022. It was named "Finalist" in several other competitions. It was nominated for numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. It was published March 1, 2022, by The Permanent Press. In advance of the full book, multiple chapters were published in 2020 and 2021 by the online literary journal The Write Launch (see website listed on this page).

Schnader's short story, The Champion, won 1st Prize in the League of Utah Writers Annual Quills Contest 2020 for new writers of fiction and is published in the Arlington Literary Journal's October 2022 issue. His short story, Durango, received Honorable Mention in the same contest and was published in the December 2021 issue of The Write Launch. His short story, The Oma, was published in October 2021 issue of The Write Launch. His essays have been published in Audere Literary Magazine, Bookscover2cover, and the Columbia Fiction Foundry. He has been on radio across the United States and in Europe speaking about his work, the Vietnam War, and the Shake-speare Controversy.

A member of the Columbia Fiction Foundry, the DeVere Society, the Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship, Hampton Roads Writers, Chesapeake Bay Writers, and the Virginia Writers Club, he is inspired by the characters of Jane Austen, the angst in Poe, Orwell’s journalistic style and Fielding’s humor and plot. Currently, he is writing another novel.

As a physician with extensive clinical experience, Dr Schnader welcomes invitations to speak on the crafting of authentic medical scenes in writing novels, plays and cinema. Visit his website at: https://jschnaderauthor.com

Other Works

  • THE CHAMPION, 1st Prize Winning Short Story

    2022
  • THE OMA, a short story

    2021
  • DURANGO, a short story

    2021

Awards and Recognition

  • "GRAND PRIZE 2ND PLACE: FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR WINNER," Independent Authors Network, 2023 ($500) for: The Serpent Papers
  • "OUTSTANDING HISTORICAL FICTION WINNER" Independent Authors Network, 2023, for: The Serpent Papers
  • "BRONZE WINNER," Foreword Reviews Book of the Year Awards 2022, for: The Serpent Papers
  • 1st PLACE, QUILLS CONTEST, League of Utah Writers, Short Fiction ($75), 2020, for The Champion
  • The Serpent Papers: "Staff Pick," VFW Magazine's Book Corner 2023
  • The Serpent Papers: "Finalist," Indie Excellence Awards 2023
  • The Serpent Papers: "Finalist," American Book Fest Best Book Awards 2023
  • The Serpent Papers: Finalist (short-listed), Blue Moon Novel Competition 2021, Madville Press

Press and Media Mentions