John Harrison Finger

John Harrison Finger (November 24, 1915 – December 22, 1989) was known as Mr. WalkAmerica.

On January 22, 1949 John Harrison Finger walked from High Point, North Carolina to Greensboro and back for a total of 32 miles. During this walk he pulled a wagon and collected money for the March of Dimes.[1] This was the inaugural walk for the March of Dimes a tradition which is still being done annually. Although this was the start of his claim to fame, he also became famous for his collection of photos and autographs of famous people [2] and for his sense of humor.[3] Mr. Finger didn't obtain notoriety by just starting the tradition of walking for the March of Dimes but he continued walking for the March of Dimes and other charities for the remainder of his life.[4][5] Other events that contributed to his fame was his unusual hobby of getting his picture taken with famous people and having them autograph his Holy Bible at their favorite scripture, thereby gaining an insight into their personal life.[6]

Family and early life

John Harrison Finger was born on November 24, 1915 in Hartsville, South Carolina to John Pinkney and Mary Jane (Griffin) Finger. He was the 6th of 10 children. The family moved around a lot because his father was a heavy drinker and therefore had a hard time holding a job. John began helping out the family at the age of 9. He would purchase 24-count boxes of candy from a warehouse for 75–cents and sell the candy for 5–cents a bar on the streets; thereby making a 45–cent profit on each box. When he reached the age of 11 he started delivering papers. At 14, and having only completed the 4th grade, John quit school to work 80-hour weeks running speeders in the cotton mill. It was tiring work that only paid 10-cents per hour but it kept his family going. His childhood taught him never to drink a drop of alcohol, a promise he kept his entire life, and to laugh in every situation.[7]

John Harrison Finger before his inaugural walk

Marriage and children

The New Deal, in 1933, set a minimum-wage law of 30-cents per hour, which instantly tripled John's wages, such that he could cut back to a 40-hour work week. A couple of years later, he took advantage of another one of President Franklin Roosevelt's programs by working at the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) Camp in High Point, N.C.. While at the CCC, he got into racewalking and finished fourth in the U.S. Olympic Trials in 1936, just one position shy of making the U.S. Olympic team. He also started attending Church of God of Prophecy, where he met and married Gertrude Mae Ashwell on May 8, 1937. After marriage, John began working at the Pickett Cotton Mill in High Point, N.C. He worked there for 16 years. During that time he had four children, Larry, Yvonne, John and Richard. While his children were in elementary school there was a drive put on by the city and public schools to collect dimes for the polio fund. When his children started asking for money for the polio drive John decided to do what he was good at and that was walking. After all President Franklin Roosevelt had helped him out with the new minimum wage law and the CCC Camp so he wanted to do something to help out President Franklin Roosevelt. Consequently, on January 22, 1949, John became the first person to ever walk for the March of Dimes, walking 32 miles from High Point to Greensboro and back, while wearing a dress suit and pulling a little, red wagon to collect donations. He raised over $1,700.00, breaking the wagon, and became the father of all modern-day charity walks, since the walk was also his own idea.[1][8][9][10] In 1949 John also did a walk (86 miles) to raise money for the church he attended.[4][11] He would continue to walk for the March of Dimes for the rest of his life, logging his 1,000th mile walking for them on Jan. 23, 1983, on an anniversary walk in High Point, N.C.where it all started.[12] In 1958, he moved his family to Southern California, where he would spend the rest of his life. He drove a taxicab for Southeast Taxi in Downey, California, for 22 years. In 1972, John began getting his picture made with celebrities and,[13] shortly thereafter, starting getting them to autograph his King James Bible at their favorite scripture.

Retirement

John Harrison Finger with his Carnation silver bowl trophy and other plaques and photo albums

When he retired in 1979, he began pursuing his hobby full-time. He went on several, 30-day bus trips around the United States and showed up at Hollywood studios at other times to collect photos with celebrities. If there was a celebrity appearing somewhere, John Finger was there to meet him.[14] By winning auctions, he was able to play tennis with a few celebrities [15] and his match with Rob Reiner who played Meathead on All In The Family that got him into show business himself. He appeared on several shows, including You Bet Your Life with Buddy Hackett, Joker's Wild, Good Morning America, the Tony Orlando Show and on two episodes of All In The Family. That's not bad for a man who grew up poor and lost all of his teeth by the age of 60. John learned how to turn his weaknesses into strengths, even making his toothless mouth his trademark with a personalized license plate on his car of "NO2TH".

John's main hobby was getting his picture made with celebrities. With his Actors Federation membership, he gained full-time access into the Hollywood studios. As a result, his photo collection grew from 1,000 to 8,000 individual photos with celebrities in a few short years.[16][17][18][19][20][21] He also ended up with over 1,200 autographs in his Bible.[22][23] His picture collection includes five United States Presidents, the Queen of England, and many well known celebrities, such as John Wayne, Carroll O'Connor, Red Skelton, Milton Berle, Jesse Owens, Mickey Mantle, Muhammad Ali, and many, many others.

On Nov. 29, 1984, John suffered a stroke while walking in Hollywood to try out for a game show. He would be paralyzed for the rest of his life. However, he continued his fundraising for the March of Dimes through his celebrity contacts, his humor, and his motivational speeches at fundraisers. Individually, he raised over $20,000.00 for the March of Dimes in his lifetime, but probably indirectly raised more than 10 times that through his speeches.[24][25][26][27][28] He died of a heart attack on Dec. 22, 1989, still married to his wife, Gertrude, still going to the Church of God of Prophecy, which he attended about 10,000 times and served in various leadership positions, still having a love of walking, and still becoming famous by hanging around famous people. His wife, Gertrude, never remarried and is still living in 2015 at the age of 103. John received numerous awards for his walking, such as the Battered Boot Award, the Carnation Silver Bowl Award for exemplary volunteer service to the community,[29] HomeTown Hero plaque, March of Dimes Service Award plaque for Distinguished Voluntary Leadership in the fight against birth defects, March of Dimes Outstanding Walker plaque two years in a row (1986 and 1987), and a March of Dimes plaque award for 38 years of continuous service. In 1990 the "John Finger Memorial Award" was established in Orange County, Calif. Per Terry Salgy, National Walk America Coordinator, it goes to the top fund raiser each year.[30] He also received the Key to the City from seven different cities in recognition of his outstanding service and he became known as "Mr. Walk America".[7]

References

  1. 1 2 "Finger Launches Mercy Journey for Dimes Drive" High Point Enterprise Jan. 22, 1949
  2. ↑ "He 'Collects' Celebrities" Los Angeles Times by Kathy Kepley, around 1980
  3. ↑ "A Funny Man, Unique Way of Life", The Bakersfield Californian, July 22, 1977 by Robin Witt
  4. 1 2 "Walking Man and His Schooner" Front page, High Point Enterprise, July 3, 1949
  5. ↑ "He's At It Again" High Point Enterprise 1949
  6. ↑ "Signature Of The Times",Anaheim Bulletin,Nov 3, 1988, by Ken Ritter
  7. 1 2 "Let John Finger Do The Walking" by Eric Neumann, 2014
  8. ↑ "High Pointer 'To Walk Mile To Save Child'" High Point Enterprise Jan. 21, 1949
  9. ↑ "Wagon Buckles Under $700 Cash Load; Finger's Walk Cut Short" High Point Enterprise front page Jan. 23, 1949
  10. ↑ "John Finger's Trek Nets March of Dimes $1,027.89" High Point Enterprise Jan. 24, 1949
  11. ↑ "John Finger Will Walk from Washington to High Point", High Point Enterprise, July 1, 1949
  12. ↑ "Walking Man", The Gastonia Gazette, in 1983, by John McDaniel
  13. ↑ "Collects Celebs" Southeast Daily News page 10 August 29, 1975
  14. ↑ "At 63, John Finger's been in 692 pictures," Victor Valley Daily Press, Feb. 21, 1979, Victorville, CA, author unknown
  15. ↑ Downey Man in Celeb Tennis", The Southeast News, Nov. 7, 1975
  16. ↑ "Say 'Cheese'", by Catherine Chapin, The Charlotte Observer, July 30, 1980
  17. ↑ "Photo-maniac Tracks Familiar Faces", Press-Enterprise, June 3, 1979, C1, by Dana Bottorff
  18. ↑ "Photo Pal of Stars Aims Camera at Clinton", by Dan Weisman, Democrat Staff Writer, 1981
  19. ↑ "Tracking Down The Stars", by Priscilla Cummings, August 6, 1980, Richmond News Leader (Virginia)
  20. ↑ "He Has A Special Quirk About Celebrity Photos", Aug 13, 1980, by Leonard Ray Teel, Journal staff writer, Atlanta
  21. ↑ "Retired Cab Driver's Hobby Is A Snap", Los Angeles Times by Cassandra Joseph, May 26, 1983
  22. ↑ "John Finger: His face may not be famous, but his friends are", Daily Signal / Daily Southeast News, page 3, by Paul West, May 25, 1979
  23. ↑ "Star-struck taxi driver knows who shot J.R.", The news and Observer, Raleigh, N.C., page 16, August 6, 1980, by Bill Morrison
  24. ↑ "'Walking John' dealt fateful blow", The San Bernardino County Sun, by Ione Oliver, page AA1, September 4, 1985 via Newspapers.com. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
  25. ↑ "'Walking John' dealt fateful blow", The San Bernardino County Sun, by Ione Oliver, page AA3, September 4, 1985 via Newspapers.com. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
  26. ↑ "King of Walk-a-thons Pledges One Last Mile", by Laura-Lynne Powell, Anaheim Bulletin, March 29, 1986
  27. ↑ "Mr. WalkAmerica Hasn't Crossed the Finish Line", The Orange County Register, May 5, 1987, page AN6, by Keith Sharon
  28. ↑ "Wheelchair not Stopping Fund-Raiser Finger", Anaheim Bulletin, page A2, April 24, 1987, by Laura-Lynne Powell
  29. ↑ Sullivan, Meg (November 12, 1986). "March of Dimes Lets John Finger Do the Walking to Raise Money". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2015-10-14.
  30. ↑ "Finger Memorial Established" Anaheim Bulletin, page A5, Jan. 1, 1990
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