97 Years of Wisdom with Short Story Writer Cynthia Schumacher

Cynthia Schumacher is an author, retired public-school teacher, and education activist who has spent decades working in education and writing. She earned both her bachelor's and master's degrees in English and taught for 33 years. During her career, she was recognized as a Teacher of the Year in her county and helped rewrite Florida's Code of Ethics and Principles of Professional Conduct for educators. Some of her recent books include:

• Soul Flowers — A collection of poetry exploring universal human experiences through both rhymed and unrhymed verse. The poems focus on finding meaning, beauty, and connection in everyday life.
• Prose Pizza — A collection of nine stories that examine the many "slices" of life, relationships, social expectations, and personal choices. Interestingly, many of the stories were originally written about 60 years ago and later revisited for publication.

Schumacher has said that her writing aims to make the inner lives of people accessible and to help readers discover a sense of kinship with others through language and shared human experiences. She lives in Sebring and continues to write well into her 90s. In 2026, she was featured on the Born To Talk Radio Show podcast at age 97, discussing her life, teaching career, poetry, and fiction. One of the most inspiring things about Cynthia Schumacher is that she demonstrates that creativity doesn't have an expiration date. She is still writing, publishing, and sharing her work with readers decades after beginning her career.