It’s time to call for nominations for this year’s Markus Cook Award for services to the international messenger community.
This will be the 15th year that the award is presented. It was started by Buffalo Bill in 1998, to remember Markus and to draw attention to messengers whose work benefits all of us.
From the IFBMA’s Markus Cook Award page:
“The MCA for services to the International Messenger Community is not a prize for winning a race. At the time the Award was conceived, CMWC was beginning to be more about the racing than the happening. I [ Buffalo Bill] wanted to re-establish the spirit of the championships, to restate the reason that we all come to this event every year.
The MCA is a reflection of the axiom that everyone who comes to a CMWC is a winner, whether they race or not.
Markus himself was very much in love with the CMWC, and in many ways he was the unlikeliest bike racer imaginable. He was several other things, of course. Editor of Mercury Rising messenger zine, unofficial spokesperson of the SFBMA, leader of L Sid, and a friend to all. The enthusiasm of Markus brought CMWC and the international messenger community toSan Francisco, and it saddens many people to this day that he did not live to see it.
This award is for people that inspire and empower the wider messenger community, that put all of us before themselves.”
There is no limit to the number of nominees and anyone can nominate someone. The messenger community is fortunate to have many people who are willing to devote time and effort to improve the lot of others. The difficult part is narrowing the list down to just one recipient every year.
Nominations will close on Sunday September 16
So send your nominations to the messenger list and/or by a reply to this post below.
The basic but not so strict criteria are:
– it must be mainly for activities that have taken place in the last 12 months; although you can also draw attention to his or her prior work.
- they don’t have to be a working messenger; they can be a former messenger
The decision will be taken by a committee of former recipients and will be awarded as close to Messenger Appreciation Day (October 9) as possible.
Past recipients of the Markus Cook Award:
2011 - Stephanie ‘Papillon’ Bartczak, London, England
2010 – Nadir Olivet, Toronto, Canada
2009 – Luk Keller, Zurich, Switzerland
2008 - Martin Larsen, Copenhagen Denmark
2007 – Andy Zalan, Washington DC, USA
2006 – Amy and Kevin “Squid” Bolger“, New York City, NY, USA
2005 – Jean Andre Vallery, Sarasota, Florida, USA
2004 – “Buffalo” Bill Chidley, London, England
2003 – Wayne Scott, Toronto, Canada
2002 – Derek Chadbourne, Toronto, Canada
2001 – Joel “Magpie” Metz, San Francisco, CA, USA
2000 – John Kenda and the Philadelphia BMA, Boston/Philadelphia USA
1999 – Rebecca “Lambchop” Reilly, DC/NYC/SF etc. USA
1998 – Joe Hendry, Toronto, Canada
More on Markus:
Markus Cook at the Messenger Memorial
Mercury Falling from SF Weekly (<somewhat flawed)
Letter replies to Mercury Falling
Video clip of Markus:
(Apologies for the video quality)
While I fully understand that some may argue that this nomination may not fit the “letter” of even the “not so strict” criteria listed above, I am honoured to nominate ALLAN SHEPPARD – adoptive father of slain Canadian messenger Darcy Allan Sheppard – for consideration as the 2012 recipient of the IFBMA’s prestigious MARKUS COOK Award.
The strength, wisdom and patience that the senior Mr. Sheppard has displayed since the horrific public slaying of his son on a Toronto, Canada street, has served as a guiding beacon of hope and inspiration, not only for members of TOBMA, but also for all other messengers globally who have followed the bizarre story of the killing and the judicial ‘whitewash’ that continues to this day.
Despite advancing years and personal health complications Allan Sheppard continues to lead the challenge to expose the arguably corrupt actions of a provincial justice system, that has so-far failed his son, and routinely treats the actively mobile as second-class citizens.
Thanks to all messengers worldwide for considering this unusual nomination, and for the work you do daily to make your corner of our fragile little planet a better place.
-scunny- (
Mark Hayward has been working relentlessly for three years to unionize bike messengers and by doing so improved conditions at every courier company in Toronto.