Poems And Idylls (1893)

John Cullen was born in Quantico, Virginia in1959. As the son of a U.S. Marine Corps colonel, his family moved frequently during his childhood. Cullen later settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he raised his daughters, Mimi and Julia, and worked as the Chief Financial Officer for an online tech software company. After 20 years, he took early retirement in 2011. Four years later while cycling the Pyrenees in France, Cullen knew something was wrong. Upon his return to the United States, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. An avid athlete his whole life, John has participated in over 200 running and cycling races, and over a dozen obstacle races. Cullen has slowly had to relinquish many of these athletic pursuits due to Parkinson's. In 2019 he started powerlifting. To his surprise, he discovered that lifting heavy weights stressed his central nervous system, which helped set back some of his Parkinson's symptoms. In 2019 Cullen created the mantra, "It's Just Parkinson's" (IJP), the philosophy he uses as he battles this incurable disease. In 2021, this mindset led to the feature-length documentary It's Just Parkinson's, which chronicles Cullen's journey living with Parkinson's and the importance of this IJP mindset to survive adversity. The documentary highlights the discovery that powerlifting dramatically improves his mobility. The film has been featured in several North American film festivals and has inspired individuals from all walks of life. The Instagram account @itsjustparkinsons cultivates a worldwide community of individuals with an IJP mindset and is growing each day.A role model to many, Cullen is a sought-after media source and public speaker. He lives in Sanibel, Florida with his loving partner Pattie. Visit www.itsjustparkinsons.com to watch Cullen's documentary It's Just Parkinson's.