Very sad news arrived yesterday. Alan Waddell, aged 94, who has been such an inspiration to many died at 3am yesterday morning. Alan had been in poor health for a few months. In 2002, after his wife of 60 years died, Alan took up walking, and set himself the task of walking every street in Sydney's 232 suburbs. His adventures have been resorded on his website Walk Sydney Streets, with the help of his sons John and Graham. In an interview Alan said: "I know that Marj wouldn’t have wanted me to just sit around and give up on life, so I started walking some nearby streets and it grew from there.”Walk Sydney Streets will be maintained into the future by his family, as a backlog of photos is posted; it is sure to bring many more delights.
Farewell, Alan - you brought fun and whimsy, a wicked sense of humour, and a sense of old-fashioned, priceless wonderment into many hearts, including mine. I never met Alan face to face, but I always had hope that one day our paths would cross in real life as well as the cyberworld. His memory will come with me as I pursue my own projects on foot around this city we share such a love of. My condolences to Alan's family who are part of the universal family of the blogosphere.
The Sydney Morning heral tribute to Alan can be found here.
Thankyou to John for permission to use the photos from Alan's site
Bloody hell, that sucks. I've spent hours looking through his photos, missing Sydney.
ReplyDeleteMay he rest in peace.
I echo your sentiments, Sally. Alan had a deep and abiding love for Sydney and his vision will be upheld by the rest of the Sydney blogosphere.
ReplyDeleteVale ...
Such a loss. A truly inspirational man. May his spirit live on and continue to inspire others.
ReplyDeleteAwww.... that makes me sad. thanks a lot.
ReplyDeleteWhat a neat concept for a blog. Alan has once again shown us that walking equals longevity. Thanks Sally
ReplyDeleteA true loss! i like his photos. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteFarewell Alan! I hope you're in a better place.
ReplyDeleteAm very sad to read this, Sally. I've enjoyed Alan's blog. What a guy to do such a thing at his age. Condolences to his family and thanks for bringing his blog to our attention. I'm sure it will continue to please for years to come.
ReplyDeleteIt just shows you that great accomplishments can be achieved at any stage of life!
ReplyDeleteThe Sydney Morning Herald tribute to Alan has been added on the front page.
ReplyDeleteSally, this is so lovely. Thank you for posting the photos of Alan and telling us his inspirational story. Cyberspace is very small indeed, the space of a heart, and our fellow bloggers and walkers share a very special place there.
ReplyDelete-Kim
Seattle Daily Photo
His effort inspired me to do the same. I am now in the process of planning to walk every street of Toronto in an effort to raise awareness of global warming. together we can better the world
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