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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Andrew MacLean is the author of the weekly newspaper column Backyard History, published in over a dozen Atlantic Canadian newspapers.
He also write and hosts the Backyard History Podcast, produced by Jordan Lauzier, and the writer of the Backyard History TV show on BellFibeTV1.
MacLean’s debut book, Backyard History: Forgotten Stories From Atlantic Canada’s Past, was published by Friesen Press in December 2023. The first print run sold out in a chaotic ten-day frenzy! Signed copies are available exclusively at backyardhistory.ca.
Six months later, this was followed by Backyard History: Forgotten Stories From Atlantic Canada's Past Volume Two, and another six months after that by Backyard History: Rebellious Women in the Maritimes, a third collection focusing on the compelling and often-overlooked stories of 17 women in Atlantic Canada, focussed on including their own writings, sourced from letters and diaries, to allow them to tell their on stories in their own words.
Andrew MacLean received a degree in History at Fredericton's University of New Brunswick, proceeding onwards towards a Masters at Dalhousie University in Halifax.
Before becoming a writer, he lived an eclectic and far-ranging life. He backpacked through 37 countries across five continents, visiting more than 200 cities. He funded his travels by measuring trees in the backwoods of New Brunswick for forestry research during the summers, and exploring the world in the winters. He’s run over a dozen election campaigns in five Canadian provinces and worked in aerial surveying from Nunavut to the Florida Keys, using lasers to map rising sea levels caused by climate change.
He also had a phase as a professional campaign manager, and has run over a dozen election campaigns in five different Canadian provinces.
The pandemic brought all that globe-trotting to a halt — and brought MacLean home to New Brunswick.
Being back home reminded him of the long, winding tales his grandfather used to tell in the tiny village of Tide Head. Inspired, he began digging into obscure moments in Maritime history as a lockdown passion project.
He started writing his discoveries in the storytelling style he’d grown up with, paired with rigorous research.
His first post, about the sea monster “Old Ned” in Lake Utopia, went viral on social media in January 2021.
Just a month later, he landed his first weekly column in The Daily Gleaner — the very newspaper he delivered as a kid.
Today, he appears in twenty newspapers a week, has published three books, launched a podcast and a TV show, and tours the Maritimes giving talks on the history and culture of the region.
Bring These Stories Home!
The Maritimes have a wild, weird, and wonderful past — and it’s all waiting in the Backyard History books.
No dry lectures. Just true stories with heart and grit.
Available exclusively at backyardhistory.ca.