Celebrating Matthew B. Crawford

“Shop Class As Soulcraft” mindedness made real.

Matthew B. Crawford, a six-pack of Coors, and his 1976 VW Bug drift car. Image: Jean Boulanger

Call it a skill or just a curious habit, but I dig remembering birthdays. Always have; in fact, I care more about the single most important date of a person’s life than what they do for a living. I consider it a survival mechanism living in the heart of Silicon Valley, where even the most wealthy can get bored of accumulating enough folding money to buy shitty homes for millions, then spend millions to make them modern and ugly. I ride by such visual atrocities daily, happy that I’m not living in a futile hamster's wheel of vanity.

A good friend just celebrated his 58th birthday last Saturday. I’ve known Matt since meeting him in person at a Triumph motorcycle launch in downtown San Jose on January 4, 2020, but I’ve known of him since 2010.

I was U.S. editor of BikeRadar.com, a British cycling website that launched in July 2007. Bicycles were my life, and I was neglecting a BMW R 90/6 in the garage in favor of the 15 or so bicycles hanging from the rafters. It was my job, after all, and my 43-year-old body needed to stay in shape. A few years later I became aware of a new book called “Shop Class As Soulcraft” written by a guy who owned a one-man motorcycle repair shop in Virginia.

I was immediately smitten with the vintage red BMW airhead on the cover, but it was the content that had an immediate effect on my brain. The author was Matthew B. Crawford, and his stifled wisenheimer smirk glared at me from the back dust jacket author’s photo every time I shared my copy or bought more for friends.

NPR podcast - 2009

By early 2014 I had sold my R 90/6 and bought a 2004 Moto Guzzi California Stone cruiser. The time was ripe for powered vehicles to reenter my life; I even emailed Crawford at his Shockoe Moto address to give him an ‘atta boy’ for his book but never heard back. By early 2020 – several job changes and motorcycles later – I finally met the philosopher mechanic who inspired me to revisit my own hands-on approach to life.

Back to that downtown San Jose brew pub and the Triumph launch on January 4, 2020. A handful of Sunday Moto Club pals and I were crowded together looking at new machines when Jean introduced two new friends to our crew: a smiling Swede named Johan Ballin and an all too familiar face with the same stifled wisenheimer smirk but wearing glasses.

“Matthew B. Crawford! What are you doing here?” I blurted out as I shook his hand after introducing myself to him and Johan. “I thought you lived in Richmond, Virginia.”

“Call me Matt,” Crawford said with a smile, most likely a bit taken aback by my incredulous recognition on a night he was hoping to remain anonymous among fellow riders. “I live here now; I’m finishing my third book.”

Meeting a New York Times bestselling author isn’t something that happens much in our household, so I asked Crawford to tell me about his latest book, scheduled for publication in early June 2020. He graciously shared his manuscript with me to edit, which I read over the weekend and gave my two cents. From that chance meeting we’ve grown our relationship, starting with a few rides in the Santa Cruz mountains and down the Pacific Coast Highway south of Big Sur and evolving into gatherings with friends and family.

Crawford is a Berkeley, California native who’s traveled the world as a student, scholar and speaker. “Why We Drive” was published in the early days of the Covid pandemic so it didn’t get the promotional dog and pony show it deserved, but plenty of podcasts were published.

The Smoking Tire podcast - 2020

As Crawford tells me, it’s hard work publishing a book with all the sacrifices of time and attention to anything but. He stays fresh getting his words published on UnHerd and Archedelia, his excellent Substack blog (his recent post just plopped into my Inbox as I type this).

Recently, his UnHerd colleague Freddie Sayers was in the Bay Area from London and recorded this discussion with Crawford.

Chronic hand and back pain keeps him off the bike more than he’d like, but his 13-year pursuit of building a drift car from a 1976 VW Bug keeps his hands busy. I’ve helped him lift the body onto its chassis, bleed the brakes, and film a couple burnouts in our cul-de-sac for shits and giggles. Is this merely a fruitless effort of a 58-year-old hands-on scholar or is Crawford putting his money where his (words and) mouth is? He might agree that it’s a combination of both, which makes him happy either way.

I can vouch for my happiness in having a guy like Matt come into my life. His San Jose neighbor and my pal Ryan also knew plenty about “Shop Class As Soulcraft” and lends a hand frequently. BMW devotee Scottie immediately bonded with Matt after I connected them three years ago. I bought a 1962 BMW R 60/2 barn find from Scottie earlier this year and it’s become my daily rider.

Riding pals Brian and Phil make time to share drinks and stories with us frequently, and as is fitting of all the best matchmakers, Jean is usually in the middle of it all, smiling, laughing and encouraging all us misfits.

Continuing on the happiness thread, its been a joy to see Matt find love with his fiancée Marilyn, who we’ve met a few times and like Matt is a scholar who shares his travels and interests.

So here’s to birthdays and serendipity. One thing that getting older has taught me is friends matter over everything else.