Well done, Ben Okri. Reading your piece (King for a day: My reign will be a walk in the park, 8 November) I felt like I was listening to myself. The pleasures of walking are greater than in any other form of activity – whether brisk walking to get to a specific destination quickly, long-distance walking for exercise, or a saunter to the local park (or just to the local). His experience of walking in the US is exactly as happened to me. Stopped twice by police who didn’t seem to understand the idea of exploring the locality on foot purely for pleasure, they then circled the area several times to keep an eye on what I was up to. It seems Churchill only got it half right. We are separated by more than a common language.
Sean McCarthy
Cork, Ireland
