If you live in Silver Lake, you know my hero. Marc Abrams walked through the streets of our neighborhood every day, reading a newspaper that he held tightly folded against his tanned, taut chest. He even had a uniform: He always wore a pair of mint green shorts, doubled over at the waist, the drawstring knotted tight. Except the handful of times I saw him in royal blue shorts, and if it was really cold, a leather jacket. But that was like, once.
If you said hi, he’d say hi back. But if you wanted to talk to him, you had to fall into step. I never once saw him stop.
Last year, Marc, who is better known as the Silver Lake Walker, or Walking Man, was immortalized in an amazing mural by Nicky Gagliarducci painted on the wall just outside of Local, one of our favorite restaurants. The mural features him walking through various LA landscapes, past the now-razed Brown Derby, down historic Olvera Street, to the edge of Santa Monica Pier, crossing through the city’s time and space on foot, transcending stereotypes and changing minds about walking in LA.
A beautiful audio slideshow in the LA Times captured a day in the life of the city’s most famous pedestrian, including the fact that he logged about 200 miles a week.
During last year’s Parking Day, de LaB had our park outside Local, a spot I was especially proud to claim due to its proximity to the Silver Lake Walker mural. So imagine my complete and unfettered joy when, mid-morning, Marc came walking down Sunset in front of his very mural, in the same outfit (of course). I started jumping up and down. “Marc!” I yelled, like we had been friends forever. “Marc! Can I take your photo?” I ran over to him, dancing around him as he kept walking. “I’m a walker!” I said, giddy. “My last name is Walker and I’m a walker!”
“Oh, you’re a walker, too?” he said, laughing at my sidewalk show. He stopped, and introduced himself, as I proudly explained how we had created a park out of a parking space—we made it for people who walk! “Okay,” he smiled in approval. “You can do whatever you want.” He posed and let me snap his photo, then stepped away into the morning.
Yesterday, Marc, a retired doctor, was found dead at 58. If I were in LA, I’d take a memorial lap around the neighborhood with today’s paper, just like Marc did for decades. Then I’d go place it in front of that mural, where the Silver Lake Walker will keep on walking forever.
Update: Rico Gagliano, host of the Dinner Party Download, has launched a Facebook petition to name the Silver Lake Reservoir loop for Marc. A great idea!
Update: Blogging.la is organizing a memorial walk for this Sunday starting at noon. And here’s the route, based on a 2004 interview: “I usually loop around the lake, and then go down West Silverlake to Rowena, and then Hyperion, and then Griffith Park Blvd. down Sunset, back down Silverlake to the reservoir, and then back and loop around the lake again. So it’s about 15 miles altogether.”
