Jeff McCallum

Jeff McCallum is the author of "Somebody's Bright Balloon," a collection of poems for cancer patients and cargegivers. He is a frequent contributor to the Yale Journal of Humanities in Medicine and his work has appeared in the Journal of Poetic Medicine, Marggie and others.

 As the medical reports states, he's a “pleasant 55-year-old gentleman.” Born in the Yukon Territories, he followed his meteorologist-turned-weatherperson-turned-actor father to the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis in 1964, where he still resides.

A commercial building contractor and father of four young men, I remain active in the civil rights movement. I am in my twelfth year on the board of directors of the Mixed Blood Theatre, which for over thirty years has been dedicated to “keeping the dream alive.” My cancer experience in July of 2003 changed the focus of my writing, as well as allowing me to speak on behalf of the American Cancer Society at events and fundraisers.