Patti McCracken worked at a newsmagazine in Washington, D.C. for a decade before moving to Chicago, where she was an assistant editor at the Chicago 

Tribune. She eventually relocated to Europe, where she was a journalism trainer, free press advocate, and newsroom consultant for the then-emerging 

democracies of the former Soviet bloc. She was based in an Austrian village, but her work often included long stints in Eastern and Central Europe, the Balkans, the Caucasus, and later North Africa and Southeast Asia. 

 

She was twice a Knight International Press Fellow. Over 20+ years, her articles have appeared in Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, Wall Street 

Journal, Guardian, Smithsonian Magazine, and many more outlets. 

 

After seventeen years abroad, McCracken returned to the United States. She now resides on Martha's Vineyard. She is the author of the upcoming book The Angel Makers: Arsenic, a Midwife and History's Most Astonishing Murder Ring — published by HarperCollins in March 2023 and available for pre-order now.