Somebody's Bright Balloon

About the Book

I am a doctor (a pathologist) working in South India. I saw your poem, "Waiting Rooms are Different," and have read it almost 20 times since then. There is something so extraordinarily moving about it. I could feel the pain and the pathos so clearly it was almost a physical sensation. Just wanted you to know this is one of the most beautiful poems I have ever read.
-Dr. Manna Valiathan

Jeff McCallum has fought his cancer with poetry that tells of fear and frustration, anxiety and anger, poems of loneliness and understanding that have helped him find joy in serenity and fellowship with others who are sick. His travails, much and many, have opened his eyes to the tensions of medical care and will remind doctors and nurses of the wonders and sorrows of the sick. He brings us all to a greater compassion for our fellow human beings. People with cancer will gain new hope from what he has written.
-Dr. Howard M. Spiro, Emeritus Professor of Medicine, Founder/Former Director of the Program for Humanities in Medicine at Yale University.

McCallum takes us on his journey through surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, an abyss that left him with a keen and tender eye for the transcendence that can come from suffering. Only from great pain could have com poems that are this warm, loving and celebratory. McCallum sings of recovery; he helps us "to hold what of this world we love."
-Cortney Davis, author of three poetry collections-Leopold's Maneuvers, Details of Flesh and The Body Flute, and a memoir-I Knew a Woman: the Experience of the Female Body (Random House). She is also co-editor of two anthologies-Between the Heartbeats: Poetry and Prose by Nurses and Intensive Care: More poetry and Prose by Nurses.

About the Author

As the medical reports say, Jeff McCallum is a ?pleasant 55-year-old gentleman.? Born in the Yukon Territories, McCallum followed his meteorologist-turned-weatherperson-turned-actor father to the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis in 1964, where he still resides.

A commercial building contractor and father of four young men, McCallum remains active in the civil rights movement. He is in his 10th year as member of the board of directors of Mixed Blood Theatre, which has for 30 years been dedicated to ?keeping the dream alive.? His cancer experience in July of 2003 focused his writing on cancer, patients, caregivers and the everyday miracles these relationships create. He is pleased and honored to speak at events and fundraisers for the American Cancer Society and to dedicate a portion of the proceeds of this book to its Hope Lodge.