About

Arnie Bernstein is a Chicago-based nonfiction writer, specializing stories that have fallen through the cracks of history. He holds a Masters degree in Creative Writing from Columbia College-Chicago, and a Bachelors degree in Film Studies from Southern Illinois University. A member of Authors Guild, PEN, and Society of Midland Authors. Along with Alta Price, co-ambassador of the Authors Guild in Chicago.

Delivered presentations about his work and the craft of nonfiction at colleges, universities, libraries, high schools, and other venues, including Northwestern University, University of Illinois-Chicago, DePaul University, Columbia College-Chicago, Gene Siskel Film Center of the Art Institute, many others.

Interviewed on newspapers, radio, podcasts, television, and new media forums including outlets in the United States, Ireland, England, and Australia.

Featured Work

Swastika Nation: Fritz Kuhn and the Rise and Fall of the German-American Bund

1925-1941

A chronicle of German-American Bund, a pro-Nazi movement that swept the United States in the 1930s, and the organization's improbable leader Bundesführer Fritz Kuhn. Through the independent work of many larger than life figures--including the duo of New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia and prosecuter Thomas Dewey; the newly-formed Congressional House Committee on Un-American Activities; the bulldog reporting of newspaper columnist Walter Winchell; and the distinctive methods employed by Jewish mobsters Meyer Lansky, Longy Zwillman, Bugsy Siegel, and Mickey Cohen--Kuhn and the German-American Bund came to an inglorious end. All this, plus a supporting cast that includes Henry Ford, Walt Disney, Jack Ruby, Edward G. Robinson, and many others.

Other Works

  • Bath Massacre: America's First School Bombing

    1927

  • The Movies Are: Carl Sandburg's Film Reviews & Essays, 1920-1927

    1920-1927

  • Hollywood on Lake Michigan: 100+ Years of Chicago and the Movies

    1894-2014

  • The Hoofs and Guns of the Storm: Chicago's Civil War Connections

    1860-1865

Awards and Recognition

  • Lit 50: Who Really Books Chicago 2019. Named as one of the top 50 people in the Chicago book world, along with Alta Price, for advocacy work in Chicago on behalf of the Authors Guild
  • State Library of Michigan Notable Book Award, 2010
  • Illinois State Library recognition for body of work
  • Warner Brothers Studios Comedy Writing Workshop scholarship
  • Puffin Foundation grant

Press and Media Mentions