Lee Gutkind
# Lee Gutkind

Lee Gutkind is an American writer, speaker, and founder of the literary journal called Creative Nonfiction.

Gutkind has written or edited more than 30 books, covering a wide range of subjects from motorcycle subculture to child and adolescent mental illness and organ transplantation.

Currently he is Distinguished Writer in Residence at the Consortium for Science Policy and Outcomes and Professor at the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University.

## Early life

Gutkind was born on January 3, 1943, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He earned his bachelor's degree in English from the University of Pittsburgh in 1968. After high school and service in the United States Coast Guard, he held jobs as a truck driver, traveling shoe salesman and public relations account executive.

## Career

In 1973, he published his first book, Bike Fever: On Motorcycle Culture. He then joined the University of Pittsburgh's Department of English faculty, where he eventually became the first tenured professor at the university without an advanced degree.

Gutkind founded the literary journal Creative Nonfiction in 1993. He also published three issues of Best Creative Nonfiction, an anthology of creative nonfiction. At Arizona State University, he founded the ThinkWritePublish program, supported by The National Science Foundation (Science in Society) and the Templeton Foundation (True Stories About Science and Religion).

Gutkind has lectured about nonfiction to a wide range audiences and organizations, including the National Academy of Science, Earth Justice, the Institute for Learning, the Council on Healthcare Economics and Policy at Princeton University, as well as foreign audiences.

He helped found the low-residency MFA program in creative nonfiction at Goucher College, and for 11 years was director of the Mid-Atlantic Creative Nonfiction Writers’ Conference there. He was the director and founder of the "412 Pittsburgh Creative Nonfiction Literary Festival" for four years. He also served as the Virginia G. Piper Distinguished Writer in Residence at Arizona State University in 2007-2008.

## Awards and recognition

Lee Gutkind's list of honorary achievements include

: The Steve Allan Individual Award, by United Mental Health, Inc; Chancellor's Award for Public Service; Meritorious Service Award by American Council on Transplantation; Howard Blakeslee Award by the American Heart Association for "outstanding journalism; Golden Eagle Award by CINE, for the film A Place Just Right; Recipient of National Endowment of the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship. In 2004, Gutkind was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from Chatham College.

In a 1997 snipe at Gutkind in the print edition, Vanity Fair called Gutkind "the Godfather" of the genre of creative nonfiction. More than 10 years later, Harper’s Magazine was quoted as having stated he was "the leading figure behind the creative nonfiction movement."

## List of publications

### Written

| Title | Description | Publisher | Year | ISBN |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| You Can't Make This Stuff Up | A writer's guide to reading & writing creative nonfiction. | Da Capo Lifelong Books | 2012 | ISBN 978-0-7382-1554-9 |
| An Immense New Power to Heal: The Promise of Personalized Medicine | Co-authored with Pagan Kennedy, this book delves into the personal side of medicine, offering the physician’s perspective and the patient’s experience through intimate narratives and case studies. | In Fact Books | 2012 | ISBN 978-1937163068 |
| Truckin' with Sam | A memoir chronicling several years of Gutkind's experiences traveling across the United States and the world with his son Sam, who appears later in the book as a co-author. | State University of New York Press | 2010 | ISBN 978-1-4384-3259-5 |
| Almost Human: Making Robots Think | Documents four years of observation at the Carnegie-Mellon University Robotics Institute, as they imagine, design, build, and test robots. Some scenes also take place at NASA and in the Atacama Desert in Chile. | W. W. Norton | 2007 | ISBN 978-0-393-05867-3 |
| Forever Fat: Essays by the Godfather | A memoir. | University of Nebraska Press | 2004 | ISBN 0-8032-2194-0 |
| The Best Seat in Baseball, But You Have to Stand: The Game as Umpires See It | A reprint of the original 1973 book from Dial Press. | University of Southern Illinois Press | 1999 | ISBN 978-0-8093-2195-7 |
| The Veterinarian's Touch: Profiles of Life Among the Animals | Various profiles of veterinarians. | Owl Books | 1998 | ISBN 978-0-8050-5811-6 |
| The Art of Creative Nonfiction: The Literature of Reality | A writer's guide to the craft of creative nonfiction. | John Wiley & Sons | 1996 | ISBN 0-471-11356-5 |
| Creative Nonfiction: How to Live it and Write It | A guide to teach young writers how to use creative nonfiction | Chicago Review Press | 1996 | ISBN 1-55652-266-5 |
| Stuck in Time: The Tragedy of Childhood Mental Illness | An examination of the American health care system. | Henry Holt and Company | 1994 | ISBN 0-8050-1469-1 |
| One Children's Place: Inside a Children's Hospital | An examination of the American health care system. | A Plume Book by Penguin | 1992 | ISBN 978-0-452-26687-2 |
| Many Sleepless Nights: The World of Organ Transplantation | An inside look at the world of organ transplantation. | W. W. Norton & Co. | 1990 | ISBN 978-0-8229-5905-2 |
| The People of Penn's Woods West | Essays about rural America. | University of Pittsburgh Press | 1984 | ISBN 978-0-8229-5360-9 |
| God's Helicopter | A novel. | Slow Loris Press | 1983 | ISBN 978-0-941038-09-6 |
| The Best Seat in Baseball, But You Have to Stand: The Game As Umpires See It | An inside look at the life of major league umpires. | Dial Press | 1975 | ISBN 978-0-8093-2195-7 |
| Bike Fever: An Examination of the Motorcycle Subculture | Lee's first book. | Avon Books, Inc. | 1973 | ISBN 978-0-695-80380-3 |

### Edited

| Title | Description | Publisher | Year | ISBN |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Show Me All Your Scars: True Stories of Living With Mental Illness | Introduction by Patrick J. Kennedy, and foreword by Dr. Karen Wolk Feinstein. | In Fact Books | 2016 | ISBN 978-1937163259 |
| What I Didn’t Know: True Stories of Becoming a Teacher | In these twenty personal narratives, teachers provide us with a fascinating insight into a profession that touches us all. | In Fact Books | 2016 | ISBN 978-1937163273 |
| Same Time Next Week: True Stories of Working Through Mental Illness | These dramatic narratives communicate clearly the rewards of helping patients move forward with their lives, often through a combination of medication, talk therapy, and common sense. Collectively, these true stories highlight the need for empathy and compassion. | In Fact Books | 2015 | ISBN 978-1937163198 |
| Oh, Baby: True Stories About Conception, Adoption, Surrogacy, Pregnancy, Labor, and Love | Co-edited with Alice Bradley. Introduction by Lisa Belkin. | In Fact Books | 2015 | ISBN 978-1937163211 |
| The Rightful Place of Science: Creative Nonfiction | Contributing authors: Michael Zirulnik; Lee Gutkind; David Guston; Elizabeth Popp Berman; Adam Briggle; Roberta Chevrette; Gwen Ottinger; Angela Records; Meera Lee Sethi; Sara Wehlchel; Rachel Zurer; Ross Carper; Sonja Schmid | Consortium for Science, Policy, & Outcomes | 2015 | ASIN B01FGPKIO6 |
| For the Love of Baseball: A Celebration of the Game That Connects Us All | Co-edited by Andrew Blauner. Introduction by Yogi Berra. United by the authors’ fervent love of the game, each chapter in this book reminds us of the unique role baseball plays in our national history and collective imagination. | Skyhorse Publishing | 2014 | ISBN 978-1510702738 |
| Southern Sin: True Stories of the Sultry South and Women Behaving Badly | Co-edited with Beth Ann Fennelly. Introduction by Dorothy Allison. | In Fact Books | 2014 | ISBN 978-1937163105 |
| True Stories Well Told: From the First 20 Years of Creative Nonfiction Magazine | Co-edited with Hattie Fletcher. Introduction by Susan Orlean. | In Fact Books | 2014 | ISBN 978-1937163167 |
| Writing Away the Stigma: Ten Courageous Writers Tell True Stories About Depression, Bipolar Disorder, ADHD, OCD, PTSD and More | In this collection, ten writers confront the stigma of mental illness head-on, bravely telling stories of devastating depressions, persistent traumas, overwhelming compulsions, and more. | In Fact Books | 2014 | ISBN 978-0692221297 |
| Creating Nonfiction: Lessons From the Voice of the Genre | Co-edited with Robyn Jodlowski. Contributing authors: Roy Peter Clark, Megan Foss, Steven Harvey, Lisa Knopp, Bret Lott, Hilary Masters, Susan Messer, Natalia Rachel Singer | In Fact Books | 2013 | ASIN B00F0RWY7U |
| I Wasn’t Strong Like This When I Started Out: True Stories of Becoming a Nurse | True stories of becoming a nurse. | In Fact Books | 2013 | ISBN 978-1937163129 |
| True crime: Real-life Stories of Abduction, Addiction, Obsession, Murder, Grave-robbing, and More | | In Fact Books | 2013 | ISBN 978-1937163143 |
| Great Baseball Stories: Essays, Ruminations, and Nostalgic Reminiscences on Our National Pastime | Co-edited with Andrew Blauner, with foreword by Yogi Berra. | Skyhorse Publishing | 2012 | ISBN 978-1616086039 |
| At the End of Life: True Stories About How We Die | Foreword by Francine Prose. | In Fact Books | 2012 | ISBN 978-1937163044 |
| Becoming a Doctor: From Student to Specialist, Doctor-Writers Share Their Experiences. | Personal narratives from those who have gone through the process of becoming a doctor. | W.W. Norton & Co. | 2011 | ISBN 978-0393334555 |
| Twelve Breaths a Minute: End of Life Essays | Twenty-three original, personal narratives that examine the way we as a society care for the dying. | Southern Methodist University Press | 2011 | ISBN 978-0-87074-571-3 |
| Becoming a Doctor: From Student to Specialist, Doctor-Writers Share Their Experiences | (CNF description) Physicians recount personal stories from their lives in white coats in this inspired anthology by new and known writers. These original stories reveal the inner lives of the men and women who are often rendered invisible by their white coats. | W.W. Norton | 2010 | ISBN 978-0-393-33455-5 |
| The Best Creative Nonfiction, Vol. 3 | A third special issue of Creative Nonfiction that features twenty-five essays that originally appeared in alternative publications, blogs, literary journals, and other publications. | W.W. Norton | 2009 | ISBN 978-0-393-33025-0 |
| The Best Creative Nonfiction, Vol. 2 | A second special issue of Creative Nonfiction that features twenty-nine essays that originally appeared in alternative publications, blogs, literary journals, and other publications. | W.W. Norton | 2008 | ISBN 978-0-393-33024-3 |
| Anatomy of Baseball | Twenty new and classic essays about the American past time. | SMU Press | 2008 | ISBN 978-0-87074-522-5 |
| Keep It Real: Everything You Need to Know About Researching and Writing Creative Nonfiction | Provides writers with the working parameters of the creative nonfiction genre | W.W. Norton | 2008 | ISBN 978-0-393-06561-9 |
| Silence Kills: Speaking Out and Saving Lives | Twelve new essays written by physicians, patients, and family members. Explores the communication breakdown in the current American health care system | SMU Press | 2007 | ISBN 978-0-87074-518-8 |
| The Best Creative Nonfiction, Vol. 1 | A special issue of Creative Nonfiction that features twenty-seven essays that originally appeared in alternative publications, blogs, literary journals, and other publications. | W.W. Norton | 2007 | ISBN 978-0-393-33003-8 |
| Hurricanes and Carnivals: Essays by Chicanos, Pochos, Pachucos, Mexicanos, and Expatriates | Originally published as Issue 23 of Creative Nonfiction, this book features fifteen essays that push the boundaries between fact and fiction. | The University of Arizona Press | 2007 | ISBN 978-0-8165-2625-3 |
| Our Roots are Deep with Passion: `Creative Nonfiction` Collects New Essays by Italian American Writers | Twenty-one essays written by established and emerging writers that explore the unique intersections of language, tradition, cuisine, and culture that characterize the diverse experience of Americans of Italian heritage. | Other Press | 2006 | ISBN 978-1-59051-242-5 |
| Rage & Reconciliation: Inspiring a Health Care Revolution | Originally published as issue 21 of Creative Nonfiction, the book includes new essays and an 80- minute CD containing three essays read by professional actors and a panel discussion of the ethical dimensions of the issues raised. Produced in conjunction with Pittsburgh's Jewish Healthcare Foundation, writers tackle health care in America, including problems of patient rights and professional responsibility. | SMU Press | 2005 | ISBN 0-87074-503-4 |
| In Fact: The Best of Creative Nonfiction | Twenty-five essays, all originally appearing in Creative Nonfiction, republished in honor of the journal's tenth anniversary. | W.W. Norton | 2005 | ISBN 0-393-32665-9 |
| On Nature: Great Writers on the Great Outdoors | Twenty original and previously published essays | Jeremy P. Tarcher | 2002 | ISBN 1-58542-173-1 |
| Healing: 20 Prominent Authors Write About Inspirational Moments of Achieving Health and Gaining Insight | Twenty original and previously published essays | Jeremy P. Tarcher | 2001 | ISBN 1-58542-079-4 |
| Lessons in Persuasion: Creative Nonfiction/Pittsburgh Connections | Eighteen essays written by writers with ties to the city of Pittsburgh. | University of Pittsburgh Press | 2000 | ISBN 0-8229-5715-9 |
| Connecting: Twenty Prominent Authors Write About the Relationships That Shape Our Lives | Twenty original and previously published essays | Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam | 1998 | ISBN 0-87477-904-9 |
| A View from the Divide: Creative Nonfiction on Health and Science | Seventeen essays that attempt to demonstrate the many ways in which aspects of the scientific world—from biology, medicine, physics, and astronomy—can be captured and dramatized for a humanities-oriented readership. | University of Pittsburgh Press | 1998 | ISBN 978-0-8229-5685-3 |
