Step by Step: A Pedestrian Memoir
by Lawrence Block
Running Through Life At A Talking Pace.
From the revered New York Times bestselling author comes a touching,
insightful, and humorous memoir of an unlikely racewalker and world
traveler
Before Lawrence Block was the author of bestselling novels featuring
unforgettable characters such as the hit man Keller, private investigator
Matthew Scudder, burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr, and time traveler Evan
Tanner, he was a walker.
As a child, he walked home from school (mostly because he couldnt ride
a bike). As a col-lege student, he walked until he was able to buy his first
car (a deep blue 1950 Chevrolet coupe named Pamela, after the Samuel
Richardson novel). As an adult, he ran marathons until he discovered what
would become a lifelong obsession—never mind if some people didnt think
it was a real sport—racewalking.

By that time Block had already spent plenty of time walking through the
city of New York. But racewalking ended up taking him all over the country,
from New Orleans to Anchorage, from marathons in the punishing heat to
marathons in the pouring rain. And along the way, as he began to pen the
books that would make him a household name among suspense fans all
over the world, he found that in life, as in writing, you just need to take one
step after the other.
Through the lens of his adventures while walking—in twenty-four-hour
races, on a pilgrimage through Spain, and just about everywhere you can
imagine—Lawrence Block shares his heartwarming personal story about
lifes trials and tribulations, discomforts and successes, which truly lets
readers walk a mile in the master of mysterys shoes.
Personal Review: Step by Step: A Pedestrian Memoir by
Lawrence Block
Several years ago Lawrence Block, author of over 60 mystery novels, told
me that he could write a cookbook and it would probably be shelved in the
mystery section of bookstores. As a novelist for the past half-century,
Block has created some of the greatest mystery series of all time --- from
the dark stories involving alcoholic private eye Matt Scudder to the lighter
mysteries featuring burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr to the stamp-collecting hit
man known as Keller.
But now he has written a memoir that deserves to join his mysteries on the
bestseller list, if not the mystery shelf. STEP BY STEP is a memoir, not of
the writing life, but of the walking life. It is also the story of an intellectually
honest and adventurous man who has struggled to overcome his demons
and excel in living. Unlike many recent memoirs, this is not a book about
victimization; it is about living a life to the fullest.
Both the journalist and novelist have some personal cover while practicing
their craft. The reporter can take refuge behind facts; the novelist behind
his imagination. And readers of the latter can discover the writer's voice in
his or her style or tone. They can also strive to get glimpses of the author
through his characters or the settings in which they exist. At the end of the
day, it is, after all, fiction, and any resemblance to those living or dead is,
as they say in the movies, purely coincidental. But real life is rarely so
simple.
STEP BY STEP is written in the same conversational, graceful style that
has made Block the ideal writer to study for those interested in learning the
craft. Indeed, his only nonfiction titles before this one were four
instructional books for writers, two of them gleaned from his work for many
years as the fiction columnist for Writer's Digest magazine.

So how do you write a memoir about walking? Well, this isn't exactly
strolling down to the grocery store for a six-pack of beer and newspaper,
which I have practiced for many years and am very good at. Much of this
book involves racewalking. That is the rather odd-looking sport that
definitely is not running. It consists of the stiff knee, leg in constant contact
with mother earth, arms swinging at the sides, a sort of rapid propulsion
forward. As the Supreme Court once said of pornography, you would know
it when you see it.
And Block excelled at it. In 2006, at the age of 68, he competed in 18
races, including six marathons and two 24-hour races, covering a total of
375 miles. Between 2005 and 2007, he took part in 52 races, including 11
marathons and seven "ultras." We learn that ultras are races that can go
for 24 hours or even days and cover hundreds of miles. Block covered 70
miles in one 24-hour race.
Indeed, we meet in these pages many highly motivated athletes who take
part in the sport. If you walk 100 miles in 24 hours, you become a
Centurion. If I did it, I would become a corpse. But to each his own.
Block traces his enthusiasm for walking back to his early years growing up
in Buffalo, New York, and his inability to learn how to ride a bike at the age
of 10. A boy in Buffalo had to have a bike to get around. So Block started
walking instead and grew to love it. He knew early on he wanted to be a
writer. And he settled in New York City's Greenwich Village to do it in the
late '50s. And while all New Yorkers walk as a matter of everyday
necessity and pride, Block had no idea what racewalking was for 21 years.
Then after drinking himself out of his first marriage, he walked up to
Washington Square Park one day and just took off running.
"I did this in street clothes --- jeans, a long sleeved sports shirt, a pair of
leather dress shoes," he writes. "God knows what I looked like. People
probably thought I'd stolen something, or perhaps killed someone, and was
trying to escape. But they left me alone. It was New York, after all, and why
interfere?"
Yet another reason to love New York.
Block began seriously jogging. But the point of jogging is training. And you
train for races. For four years, he entered races. He started as a traditional
runner until he hurt his knee and became a racewalker. In 1981, at the age
of 43, he entered and finished 40 races, including five marathons, covering
374.5 miles.
Then he decided one day that he was "finished" with racing and did not
compete for another 22 years. But he was not exactly through walking. In
1991, he and his wife, Lynne, took part in a three-month, 650-mile
pilgrimage over the Spanish Pyrenees --- the Camino de Santiago. They
did not make the pilgrimage for religious reasons. But Block points out,

"There was something transformational in covering vast distances, true
geographic expanses, on foot. Who looks at the map of Spain and sees a
country it would be possible to walk across? And yet by the time we were
done we had done precisely that, one day at a time, one precious step at a
time."
What makes this a fun read is the voice of Lawrence Block: witty, acerbic
at times, inquisitive and, above all, honest. He writes, "My life, too, has
been rich and satisfying, but it hasn't stayed the same over the years.
Enthusiasm has come and gone, passions have waxed and waned." His
passions could be viewed as compulsions. Block admits that he started his
racing career soon after he stopped drinking and has attended many
"meetings" with "like-minded" people over the years. Perhaps AA? And he
gives Lynne a reason for participating in a 24-hour marathon in his late
60s: "Given the choice, I'd rather be hospitalized for exhaustion than
depression."
The book takes a poignant turn toward the end as he realizes that age is
slowing him down and racing now involves serious pain from his feet to his
back. And he admits that his fictional characters might be reaching the end
of the line. Publicly, of late, he has talked about retiring from writing, much
to the chagrin of his long-time fans.
But whether it is in writing or racewalking or life itself, Block acknowledges
that we simply go on, step by step. That simply understated, redemptive
message of hope shines through here.
Lawrence Block does not have to write another mystery novel to ensure
his place in American literature. He long ago earned his spot in the
pantheon. But if STEP BY STEP is a coda of sorts, it shows one of
America's greatest writers still working at the top of his game. This is a
richly human, wonderful book that will stay with you for a long time.
--- Reviewed by Tom Callahan
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