John Leonard Adams was a gifted musician, artist, mathematician, and poet whose creativity and intellect were matched by his generous nature and kind heart. During his teenage years, signs of mental illness began to surface and although he graduated from college with a degree in math and physics, schizophrenia soon began to take over his mind. John cycled in and out of treatment, alternately living at home with his parents and living on the streets. He disappeared from his family for the last time when he was 39 years old. John’s family searched for him for seventeen years before learning that he died at the age of 48, far from home, and anonymous.
John’s story, and the story of his family’s long search, is being written by his sister Lizbeth in a book entitled “If I Knew the Way, I Would Bring You Home.” The family’s attempts to learn of John’s fate were hampered by many of the regulations designed to protect people’s privacy, and the ultimate success of their search derived from brute force research methods, random luck, and the kindness of a few key strangers.
The John Leonard Adams Foundation has been established by Lizbeth in her brother’s memory and honor. Its mission is to support and implement programs designed to improve the quality of life of homeless and mentally ill individuals.
