Author Michael Schumacher's Daughter Announced That He Has Died at 75
Michael Schumacher was known for writing high-profile biographies.
Published Jan. 6 2026, 10:18 a.m. ET
The prolific author Michael Schumacher, known for writing biographies during his long career, has died. According to ABC News, his daughter, Emily Schumacher, confirmed that his death occurred on Dec. 29, 2025. He was 75 years old. After the news broke, fans of his work wanted to know Michael Schumacher's cause of death and what happened.
Michael wrote biographies on people like Allen Ginsberg, Francis Ford Coppola, and Eric Clapton. Although he shared his name with a Formula One racer, Michael's success as an author garnered him more of a cult following than outright fame that some authors see on social media or otherwise.
What was author Michael Schumacher's cause of death?
Per ABC News, Michael's daughter said that her dad was a "good human" and known for being seen with "his coffee in his hand and a notebook." She did not provide a cause of death to the public after she announced that Michael died. The online obituary that was posted with details of the late author's funeral services shared more insight into what happened, though.
The obituary says that Michael "passed away peacefully in his home." It's unclear if he had any underlying health issues. Because the author lived a life that was mostly out of the spotlight, there is no breadcrumb trail on social media to explain any diagnosis he might have shared with fans. As of now, no official cause of death has been released.
Fans of Formula One racer Michael Schumacher were confused by the news of the author's death.
After the news of Michael's death was released to the public, fans of Formula One racer Michael Schumacher got the two men mixed up and began to share their thoughts and sadness about the race car driver on social media. One user on X (formerly Twitter) wrote that they "almost skipped a heartbeat" when they learned of Michael's death, only to discover that it was the author and not the racecar driver. Still, they added condolences to the author's family.
On a Reddit thread about the author's seemingly unexpected death, more confused fans of both the author and the F1 racer left comments to share their confusion. In the mix of those comments, one fan of the author noted that they heard Michael had to cancel an interview months before his death due to "health reasons." However, more details about any health issues he might have had were not shared by his family.
Michael, the author, is survived by his wife, Susan Schumacher, and their children, Emily, Adam, and Jack Schumacher. Michael was also the grandfather to four grandchildren, and, his obituary notes, "Family meant everything to Michael." The notice ends with a line from Michael's adult children that says, "Our apologies for any grammatical errors, as we didn't have our Dad here to help."