Author: Kevin J. Shay
Year Published: 2003
Publisher: Booklocker.com online
Words: 225,000
Pages: 300 pp.
Price: $7.95 from Booklocker as ebook
ISBN: 1-881365-80-8

Winner of an International PeaceWriting Award in the 4th annual contest sponsored by the Omni Center for Peace, Justice, & Ecology of Fayetteville, Ark., and the Peace and Justice Studies Association of Evergreen State College, Wash.

As the Bush administration brings us to the brink of a nuclear war and World War III - just as his father and Reagan did in the 1980s - with its Orwellian "War on Terrorism" in 2002, it is all the more important to learn about and study actions people have taken in the past to work for a more peaceful environment, in hopes of inspiring the next generation of peace and justice activists.
This is the story of a real-life Survivor project with much more at stake than money, entertainment, and fame. The challenge: Help avert a nuclear war by breaking through the Berlin Wall via walking more than 7,000 miles across the United States and Europe to Moscow, Russia, during the height of the Cold War between the United States and former Soviet Union in 1984-85.
Shay was one of 12 Americans and two Europeans who risked their lives and security on this path, surviving for longer than three months. In fact, he walked the second most miles of any participant. Numerous others joined this longest group march for such causes in modern history, for a day or few weeks. The project was covered by some 1,600 newspapers and 500 radio and television stations in the U.S. and Europe, from CNN and the New York Times to national television in England, France, Belgium, Germany, and Hungary. Numerous government officials, including former President Jimmy Carter, sent letters of support. Officials were met in all countries, including Russia, in an effort to get them to reverse the arms race and work together for the good of humanity.
The book details the sometimes intense internal conflicts of the group and dangers that included one participant of a later march in India being hit by a bus and almost dying. It is a story of not just trying to walk through barriers like the Berlin Wall, but of attempting to break through internal walls, walls between walkers, walls between one's self.

Comments on the book:

"An inspiring personal account of a remarkable commitment to peace....[Shay's] journey's urgent purpose and the stories he tells of breakthroughs call all of us today to try much better to avert nuclear war." - Dr. Dick Bennett, Director, Omni Center for Peace, Justice, & Ecology, retired professor, University of Arkansas, author of several books, including Control of Information in the United States [1987], Control of the Media in the United States [1992], Political Prisoners and Trials [1995], and Peace Movement Directory [2001]

Comments on the project:

"Yours is a fine mission, and I send you every encouragement as you walk across our great nation for the cause of peace and understanding among all peoples." - former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Atlanta, Ga., Feb. 1985
"I thank you for your march....for your beautiful and sometimes painful march, giving concrete ground to the hope rising now in East and West beyond old ideologies." - Raymond Yans, Deputy Mayor, Liege, Belgium, April 1985
"Not only do I join you in your plea for the control of arms but also the dismantling of all nuclear and biological weapons." - Bishop Walter F. Sullivan, Richmond, Va., Nov. 1984
"We all have fears, and we usually succumb to them through silence, hostility or by preferring to be ignorant....Through [your] walk, [you] are proclaiming another response, one of affirmation." - Andy Zipser, Arizona newspaper, April 1984
"A six-foot-something Texan, Shay is tanned, relaxed and in good shape after spending most of last year on the road to Moscow. And for someone who was forced to stop playing basketball because of a bad knee, Shay shows no ill effects from his long trek." - Dennis Phillips, The Dallas Morning News, May 1985

The 225,000-word book, Walking through the Wall, is available electronically through Bangor, Maine- based BookLocker.com here for $7.95.

A printed copy of the book is being worked on but will likely not be available until 2009 or 2010. If you want to contribute to this project, you can do so through the paypal button below:

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