Messenger Poet by Kurt Boone, Illustrations by Greg Ugalde Book, Paperback

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Price: £10.95 / €13.69

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On our escapade to New York we spent some time with Kurt Boon one of the fastest foot messengers in New York. What are we talking about foot messengers......
In New York there are approx 1000 foot messengers. They ride the subway then run or walk to pick up or deliver. As always time is money. The messenger business revolves around minutes. Whether its a bike a foot messenger or a car, everything is done on minutes. A lot of the foot messenger guys are still mad about bikes, they look like bike messengers, they are part of the messenger community but their chosen wheels for their daily work are the subway cars. But they are still fast. If a dispatcher is sending a package from Manhattan to the Bronx they give it to the foot messenger guys.

These guys are part of and fundamental to the the urban culture, to streetwear, to graffiti, to hip hop. They traverse, absorb and experience the city. Eddie Williams (see his Bike Messenger Life book we also sell) was also a foot messenger, hip hop clothing label Fubu was founded by a foot messenger.

Kurt Boone was a trackstar, but not on the bike, he was a runner. As Kurt said "In the 70's newspapers would advertise for track stars to become foot messengers on commission. There was a lot of us urban kids, from Brooklyn, the Bronx and Manhattan, and we were all pretty fast. But what the messenger service looked for was who was fast but also who knew the streets". Kurt has been a foot messenger for more than 13 years.He rides the subway, knows every inch of the subway. Grand Central is his hub.

At his peak Kurt could ride 22 subway lines a week easily.....seven or eight subway lines a day and walk maybe 7, 8, 10 miles a day. Its not running, but its a fast kind of walk that messengers do that pedestrians dont generally see.

Messenger Poet chronicles daily as a New York City Messenger as told through the poetry of Kurt Boone. His love for his work, life and the daily experience of New York is clear. The book features 27 of his poems along with b/w and colour illustrations from Greg Ugalde, the premier messenger street artist. Greg has been a bike messenger for more than a decade, his artwork has been used for alleycats, monstertrack and the messenger world championships.

We have a few copies of this book signed by Kurt Boone, don't leave it too late if you want one.

Published in 2009, Paperback 20 x 20 cms.