“BY HELPING YOUNG PEOPLE WITH THEIR EDUCATION, I HOPE THAT MARC’S LIFE WILL CONTINUE TO IMPACT THE FUTURE”
– Eve Fuchs
The Marc James Caplan Award is a bursary for students with exceptional potential who need financial assistance to complete their studies in multi-media at Cape Town City Varsity. It has been established by Marc’s mother, Eve Fuchs.
MY SON MARC & THE AWARD TO HONOUR HIM
Marc was a creative strategist and innovator in electronic media. I want to honour him for his hard work and all his achievements, but I especially want to honour him for his extreme generosity and his love of mentoring young, creative people. He passionately shared his knowledge and views with hundreds of people that he worked with around the world – sometimes for years at a time. Today, many are ‘stars’ in their own right as editors, directors, designers, media executives, photographers, advertisers, educators and entrepreneurs.
‘Hands that Shaped Humanity’ was a unusual project for Marc but he loved the vision and the idea of a multi-media installation. I went to visit him a few nights before the exhibition opened and he told me how inspired he was by the incredible people in the interviews. They were asked about ‘the message they wanted to leave the world’? He was frantically editing the last of the 36 interviews and I could not believe how fast his hands moved on that computer – like a concert pianist! I guess, he was a maestro in his field. Marc had met Verana Venohr – a graphic designer from Holland who was living in Cape Town – a couple of years before. The day after the launch, they drove out of town to take a short break. They died, tragically, in a head on collision. Two bright lights had left us far too early.
One of Marc’s great lines was ‘DON’T GIVE A SPEECH, PUT ON A SHOW’, so as a memorial, we hired a small plane to scatter his ashes over Clifton 4th beach where he grew up. It was a beautiful day and thousands of people could see ‘Marc Our Star’ written in the sky. Marc left us with a few, great inspiring messages. He was ever the visionary and innovator with an abundance of new ideas. He always said he was trying to be ‘PROACTIVE’ and ‘TAKE THINGS TO THE NEXT LEVEL.’ To the recipients of the award- I wish you everything of the best for a promising career. I know you will use this opportunity to take things to the next level, be a shining star and create your own message for the world. The first recipient for 2018, is Amanda Van Rooyen.
After some research, I chose Cape Town City Varsity as the most appropriate academy for this bursary and I am grateful for the warm and innovative way in which they have adopted this project.
