Like so many of you reading this, I miss my great friend. In addition to our many photo shoots and events we attended together, I also enjoyed the tremendous honor of working with Mike to print out some of his best work for display. Many of Mike’s friends, fans, and clients have reached out to me and to Mike’s family about purchasing his prints. His wife Misty, their beautiful daughters and I are excited to announce that two limited edition prints of his most iconic images are now being offered. Per their wishes, the net proceeds from the sale of these prints will be donated to the Markey Cancer Center.
“Never Give Up” is an 18×24 inch fine art print on acid free 100% cotton textured heavy 300 g archival paper featuring Mike’s flawless finish line photograph of Rich Strike’s stunning victory in the 2022 Kentucky Derby. No more than 300 will be produced. If you are interested in purchasing this beautiful limited edition artwork for a minimum donation of $130, please send an email to heartofbbn@gmail.com for details.
The second special limited edition print for sale is a 12×16 inch photograph packaged with a 16×20 inch mat personally signed by Mike on the day before he passed. “Chase Your Dreams” is a beautiful shot of the horses rounding the turn on Kentucky Oaks Day 2019 with the iconic twin spires in the background. Of all the photos he took in his life, it was Mike’s favorite image, the one of which he was most proud to display. He signed 30 of these, and they are the last 30 prints that will bear his actual handwritten signature. Since there are only 30 of these, we are asking for a minimum donation of $200 for each of these. Once again, email me at heartofbbn@gmail.com to order or get more information.
Thank you to anyone interested in purchasing either or both of these special prints to keep Mike’s tremendous talent on display forever. Mike was one of a kind, truly one of the finest people you’d ever have the pleasure of meeting. I was honored to be asked by his family to speak at his funeral service. My words in memory of my friend are added below:
There’s really nothing I can say about Mike that you don’t already know. The fact that you are here paying your respects and being here to help comfort his family means that you knew Mike and he touched your life in some way, and you don’t need me to tell you what an extraordinary human being he was. But I’ll try anyway.
You’ve heard of all work and no play? Well, Mike was all work and all play. I’ve never met someone who worked so hard, yet had more fun along the way, making friends, spreading kindness and touching lives.
The guy really was amazing. He was the nicest guy you’d ever want to meet. He never met a stranger. He’d always go out of his way to help others. It’s amazing that there are so many stories of beginning photographers seeking him out on social media or bumping into him at an event or on the street during photo shoot, and Mike taking time and teaching them something, often for hours, asking nothing in return. It seems like every customer, every coworker or fellow photographer, everyone he shot a wedding for or did their family pictures, invariably became a close friend. I honestly cannot think of a more universally beloved person. Maybe Dolly Parton? Our friend Mont Dawson said it best…if a man is judged by the number of friends left behind, then you are the richest man ever.
Man, he was talented too. He understood the camera settings, and the use of that strobe…he was a master of color and light. His sunset photos, senior pictures, his wedding portfolio, were amazing, extraordinary, just epic. He inspired so many photographers to be better, and brought people into photography because they wanted to take pictures like him.
And that bigger than life personality. Bubbly, fun-loving, optimistic, a little devious, the most positive person ever. He called himself the fat ninja. I’m always skeptical of Facebook happiness. You know what I mean, you can’t believe anything you see on social media, nothing is really as good as it appears… and Mike Cyrus’s facebook page was always filled with sunshine and unicorns. But you know what? That was how he lived life! What you saw on Facebook is exactly how he was in real life.
And let’s talk about his driving. The 1st time my wife rode with him, she ended up naming him Mr. NASCAR. He loved racing, whether it was on the track or in your subdivision. I heard that long after his racing days were over, he did participate in the NASCAR experience at the KY speedway where you get to drive a race car on the track. He got in big trouble going too fast and riding the wall and was scolded and repeatedly warned to slow down. But he kept going faster because he was Mike Cyrus.
And this weekend I heard a story I’ve never heard before that I hope has passed the statute of limitations. Apparently, Mike, Misty and 1 year old Allison were leaving on a trip to Myrtle Beach, and headed down Man-O-War going his usual leisurely 85 when they passed a police car coming the other direction. Mike sees the blue lights come on, knows the cop has to negotiate a U turn, so he immediately zips down a side road and disappears into the dust. Misty is yelling at him, “You are running from the police? We have a baby in the back seat. I am not bailing you out of jail!”
Speaking of Misty, Mike was a great family man, loved his wife and daughters unconditionally, and only rarely did he put their lives in danger or risk incarceration. And girls, he is so proud of you. He always bragged on you.
Rachel, on our 20 minute drives to Louisville, he’d tell me about you while you were a student at UofL. He’d say, “She’s so smart, I wonder where she got her brains? Graduated from UofL as an Electrical engineer, works at the Mayo Clinic, now she’s married to a doctor!” He’s so proud of you, he told me he really only wanted to live long enough to see your wedding, which he did.
Allison, he would brag on you too. Always said you were the most caring child. Such a sweetheart, a great friend to everyone, with a smile that lights up a room. You inherited his heart of gold. When Mike passed, like many of you, I got the call from Allison, who kept it together and made sure that all of his loved ones knew he was walking among the angels. I know he’s very proud of you.
And Hannah..his cheerleader, firecracker, his little spark plug. He bragged that you are beautiful and talented, with the heart and will of a lion. He said Hannah will rip you to shreds if you cross her the wrong way. He loved your fire and determination. Walking across that football field with you may have been the proudest moment of his life.
And Misty, a quarter of a century by his side. He loved you so much. We all saw your strength, dignity and compassion, as you put on a brave face and assured him you’d be OK and you’d take care of the girls. He stayed with you for as long as he possibly could, until he was absolutely sure you were OK.
Let’s talk about the brave battle he waged for the last 3 years. Diagnosed with advanced stomach cancer, with a large mass that was invading through the stomach wall, he had surgery to remove his entire stomach in 2020, followed by months of chemotherapy. He had his final treatment the week before the KY Derby in 2021. And anyone that knows Mike knew he wasn’t going to miss it.
And he had a really rough time at Churchill Downs that year. Extremely weak, nauseous, and tired, he actually barely remembers any of it. I felt so sorry for him as he would repeatedly need to throw up. A testament to his resolve and his work ethic, his pictures were still great, as he powered through when he should have been home in bed.
Fast forward one year to the spring of 2022, he was feeling well, in remission, cancer-free for a year and looking great at an unbelievable 140 pounds lighter than he was before cancer. He’d been psyched up for shooting the Derby for a year, knowing that he could again give it his best effort. I’ve known Mike a long time, but our friendship really grew by shooting the Derby weekend together. Since 2016, we’ve been a 2 man crew for Tops Magazine, and both of us are very proud of our photos there because we know the work we put in to get them.
Since we’re working for a local monthly magazine, and not the Daily Racing Form, AP, Getty or Sports Illustrated, we are not generally granted the access of the major media outlets, so we have to scramble just a little bit harder than the big boys to get the best photos.
At the Derby, photographers are assigned a spot to shoot the race along the outside rail past the finish line. That year, like every year, we were one of the last outlets to choose which spot we wanted, meaning about 120 photographers got to choose where they would be on the racetrack before we chose our spot. We expected to be about 50 yards past the finish line as we’ve always been.
But somehow, when it came time to pick our spot, I had noticed early on that the 6th seat from the finish line had been overlooked and was still open. This would give either Mike or myself the opportunity to catch a truly once in a lifetime photo, the picture of the winner crossing the finish line from directly across the track, not further down at an angle.
We had to decide between us who would take the spot and get the photo. It’s likely we would never have this opportunity ever again, because it was a total fluke that we were able to secure this spot. We decided on Mike. Since I have a bit more experience working the remote cameras on the other side of the track, it just made sense for me to deal with the remotes while giving Mike the awesome responsibility to nail the finish for us. We both knew that he’s just that damn good and he would produce something spectacular. I was so confident he could handle the pressure that my final words to him before the race were, “Don’t screw this up.”
And man, he nailed the shot. It’s really an all-timer. And to me, this shot really defines Mike Cyrus. Here he was, cancer survivor at one of the biggest stages in sports. Very few people have the honor to be there on the track with their camera, and even fewer are there right on the finish line. It’s hard to get a good shot with challenging lighting, fast horses, and just the pressure of it all, some of it applied by me. And the winner of the race? Rich Strike at 80-1…one of the biggest longshots ever to win the race. And just like Rich Strike, Mike overcame all the obstacles, everything that was stacked against him, and captured history, and he captured it perfectly with perfect timing, perfect exposure, perfect framing, perfectly executed. Just like you knew he would.
He deserved to live happily ever after, but as you all know, his story took a bad twist a few months later. He noticed fluid buildup in his abdomen and it was the cancer, back with a vengeance. He went through more chemo but just continued to go downhill. But from his attitude and his behavior, you never would’ve known it. We shot one final Derby together this year, and again he was weak and weary but we made some memories to last the rest of my lifetime. He spent a lot of time throwing up and resting, and I spent a lot of time just hanging out with him. We still got some great pictures but more importantly we got to spend precious time together doing what we both loved doing together one last time.
I’m an internal medicine physician. I’ve seen a lot of cancer and a lot of brave patients fighting it. I can’t tell you for sure that Mike fought harder and with a better attitude than anyone, as that would do a disservice to those that have fought as just as bravely and as valiantly as Mike. But I can tell you that he fought it as hard as he could, with as much dignity and faith in God as anyone, and his positivity continues to inspire us even after he’s gone.
His last Facebook post, a few days before he died sums it up: “Regardless of what happens, I know that I have fought cancer as hard as I could…I am truly blessed and thank God every single day to have so many people support me and carry me through this relentless fight. My faith in God is so strong that I know when I can no longer open my eyes that He will be the one I can see, the one that I have trusted and turned to my whole life.”
I can see that 280 lb fat ninja drinking a diet Pepsi up in heaven, while teaching Jesus and his disciples a photography class.
Heart of Big Blue Nation 