Sam Schoemann Swims in ‘Lake Me’

Sam Schoemann speaks rapidly, with comedic punches tossed in for good measure.
The self-published author has released his first book, “Swimming in Lake Me: One Man’s Journey of Discovery,” something he calls a midlife crisis primer.
Inspired to write the book while on his six-week journey of exploration, Schoemann has used humor and honesty to communicate the experiences he encountered on the road traveling from California to Maine in a used Corvette he named Ray.
Cue the music: an almost middle-aged man spends $16,000 to buy a Corvette. And we know the amount because among other picture of knickknacks in the book, Schoemann has included a copy of the check, complete with his former address in Mandeville Canyon.
With the deterioration of his 19-year marriage, the time was right for Schoemann to embark on his journey. The hard part was leaving behind his kids, Sam, now a junior at Palisades High School, and Natalie, currently a seventh grader at Paul Revere Middle School.
“One day you wake up and the dream is gone and you’re sitting in the bachelor way station of an apartment,” Schoemann told the Palisadian-Post. “The toughest thing was not seeing my kids on a daily basis.”
He had some interesting experiences and revelations along the way. Mount Rushmore was somewhat of a disappointment, having been so built up in Schoemann’s mind that there was no way the real thing could compete. Another time, he was under a freeway underpass, waiting out the rain because the Ray’s soft-top roof leaked, when a man showed up out of nowhere in what Schoemann deemed a “ghost car” with just the right tools to help.
Traveling through beautiful vistas across the country brought Schoemann outside of himself, helping him to realize that his problems weren’t that big, and that he was just a “speck” in the scope of the universe.
He visited friends, bars and the National Corvette Museum, all the while pondering his purpose in life. Friends are immortalized in the book as part of his “U.S. Tour Summer 2012,” set up like a concert T-shirt with dates and towns listed. His final destination was visiting his dad on Cape Cod.
Though his original intention was to write a book that would take years, as he continued on his trip–writing notes to himself and collecting little mementoes and saving receipts–another vision came to him. A practical person, he never responded to “ethereal” self-help books. “I’ve always read business books my whole life, because I like stories, and I like real stuff, so I wanted to bring concrete stuff to it.”
The look and feel of the book was important to Schoemann, who credits book designer Paul Takizawa with taking his idea and creating an interesting cover, a picture taken in Maine. The small book has an open feel, which complements the theme of Schoemann’s journey on the open road. “I like to put little jokes and little things in it, little Easter eggs,” Schoemann says.
“I wanted this to be the perfect book for men because it’s short and has a lot of pictures,” he says. It has a collage feel, albeit a digital one, and incorporates pictures, journal and Facebook entries, tollbooth stubs and other items for a visually appealing look.
He likes sharing his stories, and finds a lot of people tell him they wish they could do something similar. “It’s this dance to get out there and be free for a while,” he says. “For men, we have a certain role in society, and it’s not always what men would like to do in their heart.”
Being the artist/talent is new for Schoemann, who is used to working on the business side of creative endeavors. Schoemann, who has a film degree from Boston University and an MBA from Pepperdine, has been in the entertainment industry for most of his career, including animation, visual effects, advertising, promotions for TV shows, network launches and marketing. After 20 years, the work became “a little unfulfilling,” causing Schoemann to explore other options. Currently, he’s working on an interactive project with UCLA, which allows his “natural instinct to be creative” to be utilized.
While not writing books or traveling on the open road, Schoemann is active at a St. Monica’s ministry, where he is a mentor for men who will end up in prison if they don’t change their behavior. “The problem with these young men is they don’t have dreams,” he says. They’re also lacking role models, and people to nurture and guide them, which is what he does, encouraging their talents and aspirations.
“One of the things that I realize is the more that I’m in action the happier I am.”
His Corvette now lives with Patty Brooks in Worcester, Massachusetts, who thought cars should have women’s names, so she changed Ray to Raye. Schoemann can visit any time. “We were in similar positions in life, kind of midway through our life, kind of banged up, but still had a lot under our hood and still got thumbs up from little kids and winks from little girls and stuff like that,” Schoemann says about Raye.
“I went in thinking this was going to be a journey that was going to end when I sold the car, but I realized it’s only just begun.”
Two more books are planned in the “Lake Me” series: “Diving in Lake Me” and “Sailing in Lake Me.” Schoemann plans to visit a friend in the Dominican Republic later this year and take a trip along the coast. In three years, he will sail to Hawaii with another friend for yet another adventure.
He calls “Lake Me” a midlife crisis primer “because I’m hoping that someone else will get something out of it that resonates with them. I would really love that most of all.”