At 97 years young, former teacher and education advocate Cynthia Schumacher is proving it’s never too late to share your stories with the world. After a 33-year career shaping young minds, followed by years of advocacy, she turned to writing—first publishing three children’s books and seven poetry collections. Now she’s releasing Prose Pizza, her debut collection of nine short stories written 60 years ago and finally seeing the light of day.

With warmth, wisdom, and a quietly incisive eye, Schumacher peels back the layers of ordinary lives to reveal hidden desires, quiet rebellions, shifting identities, and the unexpected moments that reorient everything. Using the metaphor of pizza “slices,” these charming, thoughtful stories explore marriage, aging, social expectations, and the extraordinary that lives just beneath the surface of everyday people.

As Book Trib writes: “This is a collection that invites reflection, rewards attention and lingers pleasantly, like a meal shared with good company.”