Disability Belongs™ Entertainment Lab 2025
Rob Rufus
Rob Rufus is an award-winning author, screenwriter, and musician. He is also a disabled two-time Stage Four cancer survivor. His literary career began when his coming-of-age cancer memoir, DIE YOUNG WITH ME, was released to critical acclaim. It was listed as one of Hudson Booksellers “Best Books of 2016” and won the American Library Association’s prestigious Alex Award. Rob then released two works of fiction. THE VINYL UNDERGROUND was a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. PARADISE, WV won “Best Suspense” at The Indie Awards and was subsequently picked up by Paramount Pictures. Rob has an original TV series called THE OBITUARIES in development with Ley Line Entertainment (producers of Everything, Everywhere, All at Once). A musical theater production of his memoir is also in development.
Rob is a founding member of the seminal early-2000s punk band Blacklist Royals and has toured the world many times over. Blacklist Royals are releasing their newest EP, Punk Rock Survivors, this summer. Rob is an advocate for causes concerning cancer, disability, and the opioid epidemic. He is an ambassador for Teen Cancer America. He loves dogs and has a righteous record collection.
