By Bill Parry
A man walked off the Queensboro Bridge and into Long Island City last Thursday as he began the final stretch of a four-year, cross-country odyssey.
George Throop, 38, is wrapping up his 5,000-mile Walk Across America tour that began in September 2009.
“I’ve taken millions of steps to inspire people to take steps forward towards having healthier lifestyles,” he said.
Throop started his walk of inspiration in his hometown of Vancouver, Wash. In each town he stopped and met with children, church groups and seniors promoting a healthy lifestyle after his mother Barbara Ann died of bone cancer at the age of 33.
“I was 9 when cancer claimed my mother and I thought of the millions that have died needlessly since,” Throop said. “The message is to get out and walk and make sure that you drink a lot of water. Everyone should try to live a healthier life.”
The walk was supposed to end with a visit to the White House last year, but Throop decided to continue his walking to the Northeast to further spread his message.
“I’m single without the three-M’s — marriage, mortgage and munchkins — and that gave me a flexibility to continue,” he said.
Throop said he was happy to see the sights of Long Island City.
“The architecture is amazing, gorgeous glass and steel high-rises surrounded by warehouses and cobblestone streets. It’s unlike anything I’ve seen and the view of Manhattan from Gantry [State Park] is really spectacular,” he said.
Throop managed security for high-rise buildings before giving up his career. He said he has exhausted his life savings during the trek and depends on the kindness of strangers for food and lodging.
During the weekend he was given a room free of charge at the Wyndham Garden Hotel, on Vernon Boulevard, and fed meals at Rio Grande, at 39-05 29th St. in Long Island City, and Duzan, at 24-11 Steinway St. in Astoria.
Throop enjoyed a meal last week at John Brown’s Smokehouse, at 10-43 44th Drive, so much that he accepted an invitation to return and watch his Seattle Seahawks win the Super Bowl Sunday.
“I guess if you walk here from Seattle, you can have a free meal or two, for sure,” John Brown’s owner Josh Bowen said.
When Throop ends his adventure at the east end of Long Island in two weeks, he said, “I will answer my girlfriend Rocio’s call to move in with her and resume a normal life.”
The couple met when Rocio, a professor at Georgia State University, hosted him for a night in Atlanta two years ago. Eventually, the couple plans to move to the Pacific Northwest, where Throop will write his memoir about the walk and his philosophy of life.
The book is tentatively titled “Die Smiling.”
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparry@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718.260.4538.
