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His
message is delivered - in a new book
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His message is delivered -
in a new book
By Lynsey Johnson
New York Daily News, October 2, 2007
Kurt Boone makes a living delivering other people's packages, but his
passion is conveying his own well-crafted messages.
This dual identity makes this Queens man a rarity. At 47 years old,
he's one of the oldest foot messengers in the city. And once again, he
has written about his adventures in a new book, "On The Subway."
The book, his fourth, is a collection of poems that reflect on the
everyday happenings and people he encounters while on the job.
"Usually you get in and get out of the messenger business, but I'm good
at it and I get to write at the same time," said Boone, who lives in
Cambria Heights. He worked a variety of jobs - including as a film
distributor - before settling in as a messenger.
"I've been doing this for almost 13years," said Boone, who classified
himself as a "metro" - a courier who rides the subway for package
pickups and deliveries.
Boone grew up in Queens and got his degree in business management from
Los Angeles City College. He started working as a messenger in college
to make ends meet so that he could concentrate on writing.
By his own estimates, he rides 20 subway lines a week and walks up to 7
miles a day, rain or shine.
"Messengers are under contract to get a package to its destination in
under 60 minutes," he explained. "You just have to block out the
weather."
But dealing with heat or cold, train delays or rich snobs hasn't jaded
him. It has just given him more fodder for his craft.
Entries in his new book, to be published in November, describe being
shoved constantly on his way to work in Manhattan, getting fatigued
from working the bitter cold, noticing the trend of babies in strollers
wearing Air Jordan sneakers, and taking the 7 train into Queens and
ending up in a mini-United Nations.
"I'm a current events writer. I write [about] what happens around me,"
said Boone, who often composes poems as he rides the trains.
Boone, who hopes to retire as a messenger after he publishes his fifth
book - a memoir titled "Asphalt Warrior" - in March, wants time for
other projects, such as creating a clothing line dubbed Messenger 841,
his dispatch name. He also hopes to get to work a little differently
than he usually does.
"I would love to drive to work. I would be more than happy to do that
than take the train," Boone said.
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