Meet Steve Martin, our first marcher from Kentucky. Steve is a retired small-business owner whose family business, Martin Studio of Photography, recently closed after operating for 64 years in Henderson, a town of 28,000 people on the banks of the Ohio River.
Steve’s concern about climate change deepened after participating in a rally against the Keystone Pipeline with his son at the White House earlier this year. An estimated 35,000 people turned out for that event, at which 350.org president and co-founder, Bill McKibben, said, “I cannot promise you we’re going to win, but I’ve waited a quarter century to find out if we we’re gonna fight. And today, at the biggest climate rally by far, by far, by far, in U.S. history – today, I know we’re going to fight (Politico, 2/17/2013).”
For Steve, winning the battle on climate change is as much about personal transformation as it is about political action. He recently hiked 550 miles on El Camino de Santiago in northern Spain. “As you walk, you find yourself being somehow emptied,” wrote Steve. “You rediscover a spirit residing within. No one need worry about changing others, only themselves. It is quite empowering.”
As he prepares for next year’s Climate March, Steve says, “The best I can do is work on myself, and be prepared to sacrifice for my beliefs. In my lifetime there have been many issues confronting change, and opposition always awaits them. If one raises one’s voice loudly, others will hear the echo. If health allows, I’ll walk across our country next year, one step at a time, and I know that somehow it will make a difference.”
Applications from prospective marchers continue to come in. So far, eleven states will be represented in next year’s March: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington.
How about you? Ready to join us? Thanks!
Ed Fallon