Meet Marcelis, the Oak Park, IL Driver Who’s Working on His First Children’s Book

Meet Marcelis, a Lyft driver, a librarian’s assistant with “swagadocious” style, an author from the Chicago area, and our featured driver in Episode Two of Pick Me Up. It’s the new podcast from Lyft and Gimlet Creative all about the amazing humans who drive with Lyft, and why they get behind that wheel.

Lately, Marcelis has been making moves to achieve a lifelong goal: becoming a published author. His first book, The Alien and The Unicorn, is a fantastical children’s story about a wise, fast-car-loving, sunglass-wearing, and undeniably cool alien spinning through the galaxy, and the unicorn helping him find his way. And she’s not your average unicorn — her hooves leave a trail of glitter.

In Episode Two of Pick Me Up, we’ll hear how Marcelis is keeping his brother’s spirit alive through storytelling. We’ll meet a few influential people, like Marcelis’ mom, Marceline, who’s never read his work before, as well as some publishing pros who can help Marcelis take the next step toward realizing his goal.

The Alien and The Unicorn comes from a very personal place for Marcelis. It’s inspired by (and dedicated to) his older brother, Marcus, who passed away recently and also happened to be a wise, fast-car loving, sunglass-wearing, and undeniably cool older brother. Sound familiar?

“I’m still very new to this. Like, everything I’ve really written, I’ve really just kept to myself and never really tried to do anything that’s major before, so I’m just waiting to see what there is to offer out there.” says Marcelis.

Subscribe to Pick Me Up here, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Think you know a driver who’s perfect for Pick Me Up? Let us know at stories@lyft.com.