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
Featured Work
The Serpent Papers
THE SERPENT PAPERS, by Jeff Schnader, is set at Columbia University during the 1971-72 campus demonstrations, sit-ins, marches & riots against Nixon's escalation of the Vietnam War. This war is still the defining event of its generation; it created a rift between those who fought and those who protested—a rift which this novel aims to heal with rapprochement. Featuring murders on a back-drop of ’70s counterculture, the book is dedicated to those who fought the Vietnam War and to those who fought against it. Edited by Richard Marek (who edited Ernest Hemingway, James Baldwin, James Patterson, and all of Robert Ludlum's books), it was published March 1, 2022, by The Permanent Press.
GRAND PRIZE 2ND PLACE: FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR WINNER, Independent Authors Network, 2023 ($500)
OUTSTANDING HISTORICAL FICTION WINNER, Independent Authors Network, 2023
BRONZE WINNER: Foreword Reviews Book of the Year Awards 2022
FINALIST: Indies Excellence Awards 2023
FINALIST: Blue Moon Novel Competition 2021
STAFF PICK: Book Corner, VFW Magazine 2023
“Schnader’s writing is multi-sensual and powerful.”
—New York Journal of Books
“NOVELIST DELIVERS AUTHENTIC, INTENSE TALE OF COMING OF AGE IN VIETNAM ERA: Worlds collide at the climax to a tale rendered with intensity of purpose, vigor of prose, authenticity of time and place, and depth of characterization.”
—The Richmond Times-Dispatch & The Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star
Other Works
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THE CHAMPION, 1st Prize Winning Short Story
2022
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THE OMA, a short story
2021
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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
- RADIO INTERVIEW of author Jeff Schnader (by John Shannon) on Radio Free Galisteo, Albuquerque, NM
- 2022 FOREWORD REVIEWS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARDS WINNER: The Serpent Papers, a novel by Jeff Schnader, is a 2022 Foreword Reviews "Book of the Year Bronze Winner"
- 2022 FOREWORD REVIEWS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARDS FINALIST: The Serpent Papers, a novel by Jeff Schnader, is a 2022 Foreword Reviews "Book of the Year Finalist"
- The Serpent Papers: Finalist, Foreword Reviews Book of the Year Awards 2022
- RADIO INTERVIEW (live by James Lowe): 1110 AM & 93.5 FM (WTBQ) and 1500 AM & 98.3 FM (WGHT), The Frank Truatt Morning Show (NY and NJ’s #1 Drive Time Morning Show), Orange County-Northern NJ-New York Metro
- RADIO INTERVIEW (live by Donna Seebo): Warriors for Peace, Lakewood, WA The Donna Seebo Show
- RADIO INTERVIEW (by Jimmy Mac): Dave Nemo Weekends, Trucker Radio, Ocean Springs, MS
- RADIO INTERVIEW (by Nick Burns): KRCL (FM 96.5 & FM 90.9), Salt Lake City & Park City, UT
- RADIO INTERVIEW of Jeff Schnader (by Tom Sumner) on The Tom Sumner Program (WFOV), Flint, MI
- Writer's Profile at the online literary journal, The Write Launch
- “QUICKLY HYPNOTIZING THE READER like the gaze of a snake, this tale of a young man finding his way, a poet’s voice finding a listener, and truth holding out its hand to the truth-seeker, is a beautiful novel – haunting in the tone of its voice, fascinating in its recreation of an era, and filled with wisdom that’s relevant to any era, perhaps most especially to today.” —Sheila Deeth, Writer, Editor & Goodreads Reviewer
- “I COULD NOT PUT THE SERPENT PAPERS DOWN. I thought about this book for a month. The Serpent Papers finds the human soul. It is Schnader’s gift.” —Sandra Fluck, Founder & Publisher, The Write Launch Literary Journal, and Bookscover2cover
- “THE SERPENT PAPERS RESONATES WITH SIGNIFICANCE." —Joan Baum, Baum on Books, National Public Radio (NPR)
- “PROBING THE CONSCIENCES OF PEOPLE AND A NATION DURING A PIVOTAL ERA, The Serpent Papers, an intimate novel, is about the development of one’s personal values, the costs of following one’s conscience, taking a stand when life itself is at risk, and what it means to be a patriot.” —Kristine Morris, Foreword Reviews
- “SCHNADER'S WRITING IS MULTI-SENSUAL AND POWERFUL: The Sixties was an adrenaline rush that forever changed the world. The debut novel, The Serpent Papers, explores the Sixties from a wide range of angles and paints a vivid panorama of that traumatic era.” —New York Journal of Books
- “NOVELIST DELIVERS AUTHENTIC, INTENSE TALE OF COMING OF AGE IN VIETNAM ERA: Worlds collide at the climax to a tale rendered with intensity of purpose, vigor of prose, authenticity of time and place, and depth of characterization.” —Jay Strafford for The Richmond Times-Dispatch & The Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star
- 2020 Quill Awards List of Winners