John Schumaker

My name is John Schumaker, and I’ve somehow managed to collect two cancers, which feels like an absurdly rude accomplishment even by my standards. I’ve lived with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia for 12 years, and last year I was diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome, a second cancer that now means I need a bone marrow transplant to stay alive.

I moved to Atlanta in 1988 and spent some years making small, proud noises in the music scene, including the occasional victory over R.E.M. I earned a law degree in 2004 and learned, somewhat painfully, that lawyers are not always the paragons of virtue I had hoped they might be. In 2010, I moved to Maryland in search of a quieter, more meaningful life, and I found it in Annapolis, the adopted hometown I love. I’ve even been in the news a few times as the “Troubadour of Maryland Avenue,” which is a grand title for a guy trying to keep his spirits up while asking for help.