Redding-raised author and journalist Joel Stratte-McClure continues his walk around the Mediterranean Sea to write his second book
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Redding-raised author and journalist Joel Stratte-McClure sets out
Monday to continue his walk around the Mediterranean Sea (you know,
the one that includes the coast of countries like France, Italy,
Libya, Algeria, Spain, etc. ) to write his second book on the
topic. His first, now out and available on Amazon.com, is titled
"The Idiot and the Odyssey: Walking the Mediterranean."
Since his return to Redding in January, his favorite local
workouts are the Sacramento River Trail from Keswick to Shasta Dam
and back, the Masters swimming program at Shasta College, and the
YMCA's Boot Camp, spinning and Butts and Guts classes. This
maintains his excellent fitness in order to succeed at his 7 to
20-plus mile walks.
During this part of the journey Joel will be in Italy walking from
Naples to Sicily -- and then around that island where many events
in Homer's "The Odyssey" are thought to have taken place. He'll be
walking for about 5 weeks, truly starting the journey afoot on
April 16th. His strategy is to walk daily for 7-10 days and then
take a day off.
When asked about Redding being pedestrian friendly, Joel
immediately asks "why don't people in Redding walk more? Why do
people drive to the YMCA?" He adds that he feels guilty every time
he starts his car. He likes to walk to the bank and the market from
his home near downtown.
His book has definitely inspired people to walk and talking to him
about it has me re-evaluating how many places I drive that I really
could be walking to...especially in the spring and the fall in our
climate.
In fact, today I walked to the market to get some veggies. And I
felt better for it.
