John Symon et Bob Silverman
photo affichée sur facebook par John Symon

« I spent some two decades as a freelance reporter, supplying text and photos for different publications from daily newspapers to specialized magazines. While my topics covered a wide variety of topics, I very often covered bicycling and cross-country skiing, especially for Pedal Magazine and SkiTrax. The Montreal Times was another one of my regular clients. I have written for the Travel and Weekend sections of The Gazette, with some of these articles being picked up by other newspapers across Canada. I also wrote some popular travel guidebooks for Montreal and Ottawa, including the best-selling Lobster Kids’ Guide to Exploring Montreal.

Despite being able to call myself a best-selling author, it was difficult to make money as a writer. These are difficult times for the publishing industry and many of my former clients have shut down. The few that are still in business are generally offering less remuneration than they did decades ago. Even when the going was good, payments were often late.

In 2019, I made a major career change and became a bus driver. These days, I am typically driving some 40+ school kids in a 39-foot yellow school bus five days a week; sometimes I also drive city busses. A weekly paycheque is very comforting and the pay scale is decent. But I do miss expressing my creative side.

Since 2020, I have been working part-time on a detailed biography of one of my friends, the late Robert “Bicycle Bob” Silverman who asked me to write this work. I first met Silverman at the volleyball courts in Jeanne-Mance Park in the late 1980s. He was often considered eccentric and marginal, but really left his mark on Montreal. In 1975, he co-founded the Monde à bicyclette group to advocate for “cyclists’ rights.”

In 1980, he was actually arrested--wet paint still on his hands--for painting some of the first unofficial bike paths in this city, and sent to Bordeaux Prison. Bob had a flair for street theatre: frustrated by how authorities would not allow bicycle access to the métro (subway) or onto bridges over the St. Lawrence; he dressed up as Moses and called upon the Almighty to part the river waters and let cyclists pass. This action got coverage—with photos--in most major daily newspapers in Quebec and many across Canada. Silverman did countless other zany actions—especially die-ins--over more than two decades with a very specific purpose in mind. Today, Montreal is often ranked as the top city for bicycling in the Americas; Bob is due much of the credit.

But apart from bicycles, Silverman led an amazing life. The list of characters in his biography includes Nick Auf der Maur, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Tooker Gomberg, Ernesto “Che” Guevara, Ivan Illich, Phyllis Lambert, Jack Layton, Claire Morissette, Godfrey Stephens, and Armand Vaillancourt, some of whom were very close to Silverman.

Then there is outdoor volleyball, which might never have come to Montreal parks without Silverman or his friend, Terrence Regan. And there is a lot more to this man whom friends and foes alike called “exasperating.” Silverman passed away in 2022; today there is a movement to now name a major bike path after him.

Writing such a detailed and extensive biography takes time, whatever the author’s circumstances. But while working fulltime as a bus driver, this endeavour will likely take five years start to finish. It surely would have taken much longer if Stéphane Desjardins had not joined me in this adventure. An accomplished author and journalist in his own right, Stéph was also an active member of le Monde à bicyclette for two different periods. Many other people have provided precious support for this project. The book is now scheduled for bilingual publication in early 2025. I will update this post with information about how to procure a copy. »

John Symon, facebook, November 24, 2024

John Symon en entrevue avec Jean-Yves Labonté le 27 juin 2007
photo : Guy Maguire

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