Bob Silverman
eBook - ePub

Bob Silverman

The Impossible Hero

  1. English
  2. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Bob Silverman

The Impossible Hero

About this book

Few unknown figures have left such a lasting mark on the world as Robert "Bicycle Bob" Silverman.

A true nonconformist, this tireless advocate for urban cycling lived an extraordinary life. Poet, bookseller, restaurateur, traveler, educator, gallery owner—but above all, a passionate cycling activist—Bob led his vélorution (a term he was the first to popularize in Canada) with authenticity, ingenuity, and boundless creativity.

With his small but dedicated group, Le Monde à Bicyclette (MàB), and a handful of allies, Bob Silverman achieved the impossible. Over three decades, Montreal transformed from one of the least bike-friendly cities in North America into its cycling capital—thanks in part to MàB's colorful cyclodramas, street theatre protests where members donned costumes to make their point.

Silverman's story reads like a film script. A poet and independent bookseller in the 1960s, he drew in a vibrant circle of artists, intellectuals, and musicians, including Leonard Cohen and Armand Vaillancourt. In 1962, he traveled to Cuba to join Fidel Castro's revolution, meeting none other than Ernesto "Che" Guevara. Later, he worked on an Israeli kibbutz, becoming one of the rare Jewish activists to shake hands with Yasser Arafat. He studied in France and Spain, pioneered outdoor volleyball, and never shied away from challenging the status quo.

A larger-than-life figure, Robert Silverman was, as many describe him, "a prophet before his time." Discover how this real-life Man of La Mancha managed to reach a few unreachable stars…

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Information

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Halftitle Page
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright
  5. Table of Contents
  6. List of Figures
  7. List of Acronyms
  8. List of People Featured in this Book
  9. Dedication
  10. Acknowledgements
  11. Foreword A Prophet before His Time
  12. Chapter 1 Killed by a Car, Reborn on a Bicycle
  13. Chapter 2 The Seven Steps Bookstore
  14. Chapter 3 Arriving in Castro’s Cuba
  15. Chapter 4 Back in Montreal, Protesting against the Vietnam War
  16. Chapter 5 Meeting His Second Wife at an Israeli Kibbutz
  17. Chapter 6 The Save Montreal Movement
  18. Chapter 7 Le Monde à Bicyclette
  19. Chapter 8 The First Demonstration
  20. Chapter 9 Storming the Metro
  21. Chapter 10 The Battle for Bike Lanes
  22. Chapter 11 Convincing Drapeau to Do the Right Thing
  23. Chapter 12 A Brief History of Montreal Bike Paths
  24. Chapter 13 One Million Cyclists Trapped on Montreal Island
  25. Chapter 14 A Bike-Friendly Mayor Is Elected
  26. Chapter 15 Protesting the Auto Show
  27. Chapter 16 The Philadelphia Bicycle Coalition and International Connections
  28. Chapter 17 MàB and Vélo Québec: Allies or Rivals?
  29. Chapter 18 Participatory Volleyball, Good Volleyball Is like Good Sex
  30. Chapter 19 The Handbook of How to Run a Vélorution
  31. Chapter 20 Vietnam and Cuba
  32. Chapter 21 Silverman and Politics
  33. Chapter 22 Milton Park Days
  34. Chapter 23 A Jew in Support of Palestinians
  35. Chapter 24 Moving to Val-David
  36. Chapter 25 Nearing the Finish Line
  37. Chapter 26 Epilogue and Homages
  38. Annex
  39. Notes
  40. Bibliography