23rd and Dexter: Mike Mackey

By  Jack Farrar

You’ve probably seen Mike Mackey in the vicinity of 23rd and Dexter.  Browsing the literature at the Park Hill Community Bookstore, or licking an ice cream cone from Spinelli’s, or waiting for the No. 20 bus. A former substitute in the Denver Public Schools system and a telecommunications salesman, he says he’s now “basically retired and killing time.” I asked him what fictional character he would like to be sitting next to him on the bus bench. “Captain Ahab.” What would you ask him? “Why were you so hard on Moby?  He was just being himself.”