Meet Mickey the Flying Busman

If you are, or were, a resident of South Campus, then there’s a good chance you’ve been flown to campus by Mickey Mahán, SU’s most unique bus driver.

The Tab went for a loop around South with the Flying Busman to find out who the man behind the mustache is and how he landed on the hill.

Where did you grow up?

Geneva, NY, which is a very small town in the finger lakes. Its claim to fame is being the Lake Trout capital of the world. Every year they have a Lake Trout derby there.

I lived there for all of my youth, then I went to community college for two years in Rochester. The next year I was footloose and fancy free. I traveled around the country many, many times. I lived all over the states with the exception of the South. I didn’t spend much time in the South.

What made you want to travel?

I was hungry for adventure. I was a restless kid who didn’t know what he wanted and I had been turned on by Jack Kerouac, whose book “On The Road” has turned on many a young man and woman. I just wanted to go and I did for a long time.

I hit a wall when I was close to thirty and it was time for a change. So, I went to LaSalle University with the intention of becoming a Catholic priest. I finished my bachelor’s degree in philosophy and then I decided I didn’t want to be a priest.

I spent a year working as a roofer. Then I thought I might like to be an English teacher. So, I came to SU. I was in the master’s program in English literature for one year. I wasn’t happy with the program so I took a sabbatical.

For the next three years, I worked in the city. I worked out of day labor. During the summer, I worked on a hot dog cart. Then I had had enough of that.

I went back and finished my master’s degree. I taught at SU in the writing studio for three years. I decided that wasn’t what I wanted to do so I left with no career options in mind.

A buddy of mine who owned a bookstore hired me part time. One day, I was looking at the classified ads, trying to find my calling in life, and I saw an ad for part-time bus drivers. It paid well and it fit in with my job at the bookstore, so I gave it a whirl.

Over twenty years ago and here I am baby, still trucking. It turned out to be the perfect career for me. I’ve loved every minute of it and it’s fed so well into my writing. Now I’ve got some inklings. I’m moving in different directions again because I’m antsy.

So then what’s your next move?

My intention is to devote the rest of my working life to my passions: writing, music, and art. Not that I don’t love bus driving, but it’s time for a change.

People always ask me how long I’ve been driving the bus and I try to come up with some smart ass answer, but I’ll just say to you, I stopped counting at twenty years.

Four years ago, I came up here on the hill. I had no intention to do anything other than drive around in circles. Then I thought, “this is perfect. I’ve got a captive audience. They can’t get out unless I open the door. I’m going to start reading my poems.”

So, I put a feather in my cap and grew a funny mustache, creating this persona that we refer to as The Flying Busman.

Did anything wild ever happen on your bus?

Years before I had my own run up here, I worked the late run. Of course, you get students who are coming home from… I don’t think it’s the library, because they’re a little inebriated and they have a tendency to lose their dinner on the bus. That happened a number of times.

Where do you write most of your poetry?

Right here, on the bus. I have this little memo pad in my breast pocket. When I have an idea for a poem, I’ll write down the title of the poem on a blank sheet.

After that, I get my pen and I start to beat out a rhythm and that gets the wheels turning. Then I’ll work a line of the poem through my mind. I’ll tinker with it until I get it where I want it, then I’ll write it down at a stoplight.

The next step is to type them. I’ve got the most beautiful typewriter you have ever seen. It was made in 1910 and it’s a great big black cast iron typewriter. However, I can’t get a ribbon for that typewriter anymore. Now I have a laptop.

Do you read your poetry in any other venues?

Not so much. I’ve been included in some local poetry nights and a few open mics over the years, but not a lot. This is my primary venue where I really shine. I love to do my work here on the bus.

Every year in April, I host a poetry bash at Petit Library. It’s kind of a poetry open mic, wacky, free-for-all. Over the last few years, a number of students have shown up to the bash and read their original poetry. It’s a great deal of fun.

Do you have any other interesting hobbies?

I just started, with my brother, a skateboard gang. We call ourselves “The Curb Bums” and so far there’s just he and I as members. We’re trying to get more people to join The Curb Bums. We tell them all you need is a skateboard and a flask and you’re good to go.

We meet every Saturday morning at St. Mary’s Cemetery because there’s a lot of wonderful hills. The best part about doing it in the cemetery is if you fall off and break your neck, all they have to do is dig a hole and roll you in. You’re right there and it’s a done deal. So, skateboarding is one of my latest passions.

Do you have anything else you’d like to say? A message to the fans?

I would just like everyone at SU, especially the students on South Campus, to know how much I appreciate having them on the bus, because, as I say everyday before I read the poem, without you baby, this bus don’t fly.