Homeless cyclist focus of film at Rehoboth festival

SALISBURY, Md. | Unable to afford Ocean City housing, Maurice Howard Harmon, 46, relies on local generosity and his bicycle during tourist season.

Nicknamed “the Bicycle Man” by resort merchants and employees, Mr. Harmon became the focus of a student-produced documentary that will be shown at a Rehoboth Beach film festival in Delaware later this year.

“Everyone knows Maurice,” said Bryan Babcock, who met Mr. Harmon while working at K-Coast Surf Shop on 35th Street. “But not everyone knows the full story.”

Mr. Babcock, 22, captured more than 10 hours of film in January for “the Bicycle Man,” which he submitted to his documentary-production class at Salisbury University.

After earning an “A,” Mr. Babcock decided to sell the film and donate the proceeds to the Maurice Harmon Foundation, which will help provide food, shelter and clothing for the homeless man. The 30-minute documentary is scheduled to appear in the Rehoboth Beach Film Society’s Independent Film Festival in November.

“So far, we’ve raised a little over a $1,000 for the foundation,” said Mr. Babcock, a Baltimore County native who helped coordinate a fundraiser at Fager’s Island restaurant in July and sold an estimated 50 copies of the $15 DVD.

Raised in Newark, Md., with seven siblings, Mr. Harmon suffered severe brain injuries when a car collided into his bicycle at age 13.

“I still have the scars,” said Mr. Harmon, pointing to his hands and arms.

But that didn’t keep him off the bike.

After he graduated from Snow Hill High School, Mr. Harmon took a dishwashing position at Phillips Crab House, in Ocean City, despite the 42-mile commute from Newark.

“He would travel 21 miles there and back, in addition to his eight-hour work shift,” Mr. Babcock added. “You should see his calf muscles.”

Mr. Harmon, who is small in stature, lifted up his pant leg and revealed the result of pedaling along Coastal Highway every day.

“See,” he said with a grin.

Mr. Harmon’s family eventually asked him to leave his Newark home and he’s been living in Ocean City ever since, Mr. Babcock said.

A busboy for the Clarion Resort Fontainebleau Hotel for nearly five years, Mr. Harmon relies on an income of $7.75 an hour, which occasionally covers the cost of horror movie DVDs and lottery tickets.

“Maurice just wants to be accepted by others,” Mr. Babcock said. “He doesn’t drink or do drugs. He’s the kind of person who would do everything … to help you when you need it.”

A senior, double-majoring in mass media and film studies, Mr. Babcock is one of several people who help support Mr. Harmon by providing shelter and food. After graduating in December, Mr. Babcock hopes to attend graduate school in Philadelphia or New York City, where he can pursue a career in media.

In the meantime, he still has another goal to accomplish.

“I just really want to raise enough so we can find Harmon a [permanent] place to stay,” he said.