Fired Chapel Hill town workers win Sheldon Award

In a mix of politically inspired poetry, music and awards, Chapel Hill residents remembered Bob Sheldon on Monday night.

Sheldon was the owner of Internationalist Books and Community Center and a renowned political activist before he was shot dead at his store 20 years ago by a still-unknown killer.

“He was like a mentor. I looked up to him,” said Andrea Eisen, a UNC alumna who volunteered at the bookstore as an undergraduate. “I worshipped at his feet.”

As part of the celebration, the store created the “Bob Sheldon Award” in 2002 to recognize local activists who stand up for causes Sheldon would have advocated.

This year, the award was given to Kerry Bigelow and Clyde Clark, who were fired from their jobs as town sanitation workers in October.

Advocating for workers’ rights like Sheldon did during the 1970s, Bigelow and Clark — who are both members of the N.C. Public Service Workers Union — are currently appealing the town’s decision to terminate them.

“We can’t have a town where they’re gonna be the judge and the jury,” Clark said as he accepted his award. “Nobody is gonna say, ‘I’m wrong.’”

Sheldon was remembered as a person who listened and engaged in conversations regardless of his political view, said William Stott, a close friend of Sheldon.

“We talked about how we could make a difference,” Stott said.

The book store acts as Sheldon’s biggest memorial, with books Sheldon chose still lining the store’s walls. His political causes continue to be promoted through the various posters and bumper stickers spread throughout the store.

“I never thought of a bookstore as a form of expression,” Stott said.

Twenty years ago, Eisen said the store was a place for people to be listened to.

“He was incredibly charismatic,” Eisen said. “He made you feel like he gave you his full attention.”

Sheldon’s sisters, who had not come back to Chapel Hill since their brother’s death, decided to take part in this year’s memorial.

“Thank you for your loyalty and dedication to the Internationalist Bookstore and community center,” Donna Sheldon said.

She said she wasn’t nervous about coming back to the store but had to convince her sisters to accompany her.

“It was overwhelming, amazing, it just feels fabulous,” Donna Sheldon said. “It was just a very personal thing that it felt like I needed to do.”

John Williams, the store’s financial coordinator, said he hopes to see the bookstore continue to inspire people through books and activism.

“The store has had ups and downs and swings, but never left to right.”

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