The silver-haired woman walked away from her name and vowed to "remain a wanderer until mankind has learned the way of peace". On New Year's Day, 1953, she walked ahead of the Tournament of Roses parade handing out peace messages. It was the beginning of a pilgrimage that would last twenty-eight years. Traveling on foot without money or possessions, with only the food and shelter offered by well-wishers, she carried her simple yet compelling message throughout the United States and Canada. After the first 25,000 miles she stopped counting.Peace Pilgrim's account of her journeys across America and her spiritual discoveries along the way continues to inspire growing numbers of readers worldwide.
Peace Pilgrim - born Mildred Lisette Norman, was an American pacifist, vegetarian, and peace activist. In 1952, she became the first woman to walk the entire length of the Appalachian Trail in one season.[1] Starting on January 1, 1953, in Pasadena, California, she adopted the name "Peace Pilgrim" and walked across the United States for 28 years. A transcript of a 1964 conversation with Peace Pilgrim from a broadcast on KPFK radio in Los Angeles, California, was published as "Steps Toward Inner Peace". She stopped counting miles in that year, having walked more than 40,000 km (25,000 miles) for peace