George Meegan

George Meegan (2 December 1952 – 10 January 2024) was a British adventurer and alternative educator best known for his unbroken walk of the Western Hemisphere from the southern tip of South America to the northernmost part of Alaska at Prudhoe Bay. This journey was 19,019 miles (30,608 km) on foot, completed in 2,426 days (1977–1983) and is documented in his book The Longest Walk (1988). He received substantial media coverage (including appearances on the Today Show, CBS Morning News and Larry King Live) and was featured in numerous public speaking forums. In the course of his walk and subsequent worldwide residencies, Meegan developed a profound interest in indigenous cultures; he sought innovative ways to teach native peoples how to flourish in modern technological society while retaining their language and identity. In 2014, he wrote Democracy Reaches the Kids, a book about how persons of all cultures may best learn what they truly want to know in life, naturally and joyfully, without centralized government compulsion.