Cross-country walker back home, poorer but prouder

[struggle4progress]

By Michael Stetz
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

4:07 p.m. September 28, 2007

LAKESIDE – ... Bill McDannell has had enough of walking – at least for a while. The man who trekked across the United States to protest the war in Iraq returned home to San Diego Friday.

“It was worth every second,” said McDannell, 58, of his walk, which he completed in August. He took his first step from Lakeside in November.

Deciding to make the trip wasn't easy. McDannell and his wife, Jonna, sold every thing they had, including their home. He quit his job as a chauffeur ...

But when McDannell ended his walk at the U.S. Capitol, he got zero publicity. The entry McDannell wrote about the end of trip, “was the saddest thing I ever read,” Silcox said ...

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20070928-1607-bn28home.html

[glowing]

1. Well, in reality.. Forrest Gump was a fictional character. To expect

everyone to stop and take notice of a one man march is a lot to ask in this country.

[struggle4progress]

2. Properly planned and organized, this sort of "solo" event can generate publicity.

But a number of people do this every year, and the typical mistake seems to be expecting that effective support and publicity will occur spontaneously - which (of course) doesn't happen