Andrew Forsthoefel and Ricki Carroll (AKA The Cheese Queen)
The Cheese Queen has officially decreed that everyone in the cheese kingdom must read this book immediately:
Walking to Listen
By Andrew Forsthoefel
Right now, he’s staying at Ricki’s house while he looks for his next home, but in 2011, Andrew Forsthoefel strapped 50 pounds of stuff onto his back and set out walking from Philadelphia to California.
He had a little sign on his backpack – “Walking to Listen,” which pretty much identified him to the world as a harmless (if not completely wacky) idealist. You’d think he would be easy prey for any of the terrible people we assume are out there, lurking in the shadows.
He was scared, of course. He was out on the highway, with nothing but a pocket knife and a can of mace to protect himself. He had to knock on doors to ask if he could pitch his tent in people’s back yards for the night. Sometimes they yelled one word at him – GO!
He was cold, hot, wet, hungry, thirsty, lonely, tired, and scared for much of the year it took him to walk over 4000 miles. In fact, when he hit the heat of the southwest, he had to buy a baby carriage for his backpack and he pushed that in front of him as he walked. (You can imagine how totally cool he looked at that point!)
What exactly makes this book so fascinating? It has a lot to do with the fact that Andrew didn’t judge or analyze the people he met. He really did listen to their stories and he recorded 85 hours of them. So, in his book, you can read their actual words and, I guess, when you really listen to people- they really are fascinating. Who knew?!
Some people went way out of their way to help him and I had to ask myself – would I have been one of them? I still don’t know for sure but I do know that after reading Andrew’s book, I would be much more likely to help a wayfaring stranger than I would have been before.
There were two times in the course of reading this book when I teared up at the pure goodness of some of the people he met. One woman pulled over by the side of the road and told him to walk a few more miles to her house and she would feed him. When he got there, she not only had a meal prepared for him, she had a hot foot bath ready for his aching feet.
I will never forget the man who was missing a finger because his brother intentionally cut it off with an ax when they were boys. And, the scary homeless men by the railroad track who protected him from a storm. And the woman at Mardi Gras (well, there should have been more about her because that was romantic!).
I actually do credit Andrew with changing my life. I have been canvassing for the upcoming election in November and so, I am constantly knocking on strange doors. Before I read his book, I was there to tell people about the candidates and to give them literature. Now, I am there to find out what they think about the election and whether they intend to vote. And, I’m actually listening!
