Brian McDonald

New York Times "Proof" blogs:

My dream of becoming a writer began in the mid 1980s while I was working as a bartender at the famous writer’s hangout, Elaine’s restaurant. Never one to rush into things, at the age of 40 I enrolled in Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism. There I wrote a proposal for a family memoir of three generations of New York City police. The proposal sold at auction and the book, My Father’s Gun, garnered critical acclaim. In 2003, My Father’s Gun was made into a feature-length, award winning, “docu-movie” aired on the History Channel.

Since My Father’s Gun, I’ve written: Indian Summer (Rodale 2003), a biography of the first American Indian to play major league baseball (Indian Summer was finalist in the Great Lakes Booksellers Awards), the true-crime story Safe Harbor, a Murder in Nantucket (St. Martin Press 2006), and: Last Call at Elaine’s, a memoir of my nights behind Elaine’s bar, published by St. Martin’s Press in April '08. My newest endeavor is called: In the Middle of the Night, another true-crime story, this one of the truly incomprehensible murders of a family in their Cheshire, Connecticut home. For more about that story please click on the blog page on the menu above.

Along with writing books, I frequently freelance for magazines and newspapers including the New York Times "Proof" blogs that you can see by clicking on the links above. I also teach journalism and writing. If you're interested in more information on my career click on the Columbia Journalism interview below.