Media Items - Press and Radio

"Is this the coolest man in the country? We think he is!" - Village Voice (Sydney inner western suburbs)
"An extraordinary account - an old man mapping the city with his feet" - Adelaide Advertiser
"A grandfather who has achieved cult fame" - St George and Sutherland Shire Leader
"One of the best web sites I have ever seen" - Radio 702 ABC (Simon Marnie)
"The North Shore's most famous athlete" - Sydney Weekly Courier
"Inconceivable pioneering work" - Guang Ming Daily (Malaysia)
"A popular web site" - San Francisco Chronicle
"Fantastic web site" - Radio New Zealand
"A real-life inspiration" - The Nation (Thailand)
"An amazing man" - Radio 2UE (Glenn Wheeler)
"Legendary walker ... Alan's an inspiration" - Mosman Daily
"Elderly Australian walks into stardom" - People's Daily (China)
“Alan’s website…one of the best around” – Mt Druitt & St Marys Standard
"[He] has inspired thousands...an internet superstar" - Independent Times (Canada)
"This site has turned a simple idea into a real treasure" - The Sydney Morning Herald
"He's a legend, a terrific Sydneysider and a great Australian" - Radio Nova (Merrick & Rosso)
"A media darling Down Under and his fame is spreading fast across the globe" - Kitchener Record (Canada)

This site is primarily about an unusual collection of over 1,200 photos of Sydney taken whilst walking every street, lane, bush track etc in 284 suburbs of Sydney.
  There have been over 1,458,000 pages viewed by over 502,000 visitors from 173 countries (latest new ones are Madagascar, Mauritania, Rwanda, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sierra Leone, Tajikistan, and Togo) - see Visitor Countries for full list..

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In brief

Alan Waddell was encouraged by his doctor to take up walking. After a while, repeating the same route every day became boring. So Alan Waddell decided to walk every street in his own suburb.
  In December 2002, this idea of walking every street was expanded to include neighbouring suburbs and so his odyssey began.

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Daily Telegraph     5 September 2008

The Telegraph's tribute to Alan included a treasured photo of him near the northern pylon of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. You can see the story and photos here

The same item was carried by Brisbane's Courier Mail.

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St George & Sutherland Shire Leader    5 September 2008

The Leader's web site has photos from their previous stories and some kind comments after Alan's passing. The newspaper may be using this or a similar story in their print edition tomorrow.

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Radio    5 September 2008

702 ABC Sydney and 92.5 ABC Central Coast broadcast an interview with Cumberland Newspapers' editor-in-chief, Simon Holt, in which he said that everyone should get out on the streets and go for a walk in honour of Alan. Tributes were also broadcast by 2GB and 2CH.

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Mt Druitt & St Marys Standard     16 July 2008

The number of items about Alan in the Standard hit double figures with their kind story wishing him a speedy recovery from his approaching hip operation.

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Village Voice    July 2008

This newspaper circulates in the inner western suburbs Balmain, Birchgrove, Rozelle, Lilyfield, Leichhardt and Annandale. They are all fabulous areas for walking, especially for those with an interest in history. Village Voice ran a cover story about Alan's discoveries in their suburbs, with another two pages of photos inside. The text of part of the story (without the photos) is at villagevoice.com.au

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Time Out     18 June 2008

The Sydney edition of the international Time Out magazine rans a story as part of its Colourful Sydney Identity series. The online version is at timeout sydney alan waddell
Previous identities include people back to Bennelong, the Aboriginal who witnessed the arrival of the First Fleet from Britain over 200 years ago. The whole of the fascinating series is at timeout sydney colourful sydney identity

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Mt Druitt & St Marys Standard     21 May 2008

In the ninth of their articles about Alan's walking in the far western suburbs, reporter Lana Lam (seen with Alan) said that he is "a Standard favourite". (Photo courtesy Armen Deushian)

This photo accompanying the story showed his return to their area in autumn. (Photo courtesy Armen Deushian)

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DCM Magazine     March/April 2008 Edition

DCM ran two stories about Alan in its May issue. The cover invited readers to "Meet Sydney's Best-known Walker. He's fighting heart disease on foot - at 93!" The magazine has a circulation of 150,000 through Australian pharmacies.

The editor, Tiffany Bonasera, interviewing Alan.

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Better Homes and Gardens Magazine     May 2008 Edition

The May edition of this magazine, with a circulation of over 350,000, carries an article about letterboxes (on page 151!). It includes some of Alan's photos, and advises that "if you're fond of letterboxes that are quirky, intriguing or a touch bizarre, then check out [this] website."

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Hornsby and Upper North Shore Advocate    17 April 2008

The Advocate's story (minus photo) about Alan's involvement with a Seniors' Week walk is at http://www.hornsbyadvocate.com.au/article/2008/04/16/2032_news.html

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North Side Courier 9    April 2008

The Courier reported that "North Shore residents can go for a walk and talk with 93-year-old Alan Waddell" the next day. This was part of Seniors' Week activities. Alan kicked it off with an illustrated talk about the health benefits of walking and the discoveries that you make on foot rather than driving.

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Google     25 February 2008

We were amazed to see that our web site, walksydneystreets.net, was listed first out of 390 million entries for a Google world search of the word "walk" today. It was listed first out of 83 million entries for a search of "walks" and it was eighth for a search of "Alan". Click here and here for images.

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North Shore Times    11 January 2008

By combining articles about Alan from stablemates Mt Druitt and St Marys Standard and The Mosman Daily, the North Shore Times was able to run a double page spread on his walking.

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The Mosman Daily     20 December 2007

Reporter Paul Tatnell and photographer Sara Nixon corner Alan at the base of a Sydney Harbour Bridge pylon and then on Lavender Bay wharf for a story in The Mosman Daily. As you would guess, this paper is published weekly, just like the Australian Women’s Weekly is published monthly. The story (but not the photo) is at http://www.mosmandaily.com.au/article/2007/12/19/1580_news.html

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9 TV Network News    21 September 2007

Nine reporter Dale Paget was there as Alan completed his 250th suburb, Northbridge. The event was promoted by a video on the network's web site and covered in their 6pm news (also screened on Qantas flights).

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Mt Druitt & St Marys Standard     19 September 2007

The Standard showed how much you can miss by driving rather than walking. The story read: "He's put a smile on al those who see him walking our streets and last week, Alan Waddell made this colourful discovery...[He] found the underpass and noted how many people might miss the colourful addition to an otherwise grey concrete construction." You can see Alan's discovery here: Blackett Painting

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Mt Druitt & St Marys Standard     12 September 2007

The Town Talk column, now edited by Lana Lam, reported on a visit to their newspaper's office by a lady who had recognised Alan. "Alan Waddell has become quite the local celebrity as he makes his way through our suburbs. Bidwill locals Pat Wain, Penny Thomas and Margaret Johnson even got their picture taken with him last week."

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Australian Festival, Florida     12 September 2007

In what world-famous area can you find a Dream Time Village, G'Day Cafe and the Jackaroo's Pub? In Florida, of course. Those are just some of the attractions at this year's Australian Festival in Greater Fort Lauderdale, from 2-4 November. The Festival has appointed Alan its ambassador for the "Walk Pembroke Pines" section of its celebration. Details and great pictures of the Festival are at http://www.walkpembrokepines.com/

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Journalist Project     28 August 2007

Journalism student, Michael Cleggett, chose Alan’s walking for his final year assignment.

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Mt Druitt & St Marys Standard     22 August 2007

The Standard recorded that "Alan has been told by his doctor that his heart is in such good condition that he should reach 100 years."

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Mt Druitt & St Marys Standard     8 August 2007

This was the second in a series of small items about Alan's progress in walking the suburbs in the distribution area of the Standard. They are appearing in Paul Tatnell's popular Town Talk column, which records quirky local events.

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Olympians     12 July 2007

Australian Olympic medallist and now newspaper and TV personality, Elka Graham, joined Alan for another walk, this time with fiance Thomas Whalan at Balmoral Beach. Thomas is also an Olympian and captain of the Australian water polo team. If Elka and Thomas, two delightful people, are typical of their sports, you couldn’t do better than encourage your kids to take up swimming or water polo.

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Mt Druitt & St Marys Standard     11 July 2007

The report in Town Talk column commended "Amanda, a young mother with two infants, [who] insisted Alan take a bottle of cold water and a donation for his charity [the Heart Foundation]."

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Mt Druitt & St Marys Standard     27 June 2007

The Western Sydney newspaper Mount Druitt & St Marys Standard caught up with Alan on one of his days of walking in their territory, and kindly supplied some professional photos to contrast with the amateur ones of Alan that you are used to seeing.

Standard reporter Laura Cencigh and photographer Armen Deushian (who complained that Alan was walking too fast for the camera) never stop smiling. Here is their article "On a mission to walk".

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NSW Government Award    12 March 2007

The New South Wales Government has honoured Alan with an award for promoting health and wellbeing. It recognised his motivating people to improve their health by walking and his work for organisations such as the National Heart Foundation; Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care; and the Sydney Harbour Trust.

The award was presented to Alan by the state premier Morris Iemma at the Sydney Town Hall. (Photo courtesy DADHC, NSW Government)

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2UE (Sydney)    17 March 2007

An interview about Seniors Week with 2UE's afternoon presenter, Glenn Wheeler, concluded with a no-holds-barred fight over who was going to win the football match that evening. Alan told Sharks-supporter Glenn that "you haven't got a hope" against the Panthers. The Sharks won 18-0.

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North Shore Times (Sydney)    7 March 2007
North Shore Courier (Sydney)    7 March 2007

Both papers carried a story about the two North Shore ambassadors for Seniors Week, Alan and Cornelia Francis. Cornelia appears in the TV programme Home and Away, but is best known for hosting the game show The Weakest Link.

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The Sun-Herald (Sydney)    25 February 2007

Two items about Alan's activities appeared in this edition of The Sun-Herald. One was on his leading of a walk through the back streets of Edgecliff; the other was part of an article about the ambassadors for the New South Wales Government's Seniors Week. Other ambassadors are actor Marcus Hale, nutritionist Rosemary Stanton, actor Henri Szeps, Logies award winner Judy Stone, actress Benita Collings and TV host Donnie Sutherland.

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For other press and radio please see Media Press and Radio Page 2