Del Mar resident publishes memoir of nearly 6,000 miles walked

A Del Mar resident has released a book about his experience walking 5,712 miles over 19 months after the COVID-19 pandemic closed gyms and many other businesses.

In the book, “My Forever Walk to Inspire America,” Stu Schreiber recounts his many walks by Torrey Pines and the Del Mar beaches. He said he started walking after his knees gave out from running.

“Things were happening as I was walking, and at the time I had no idea how long the pandemic would last and how long I’d be walking,” he said. “Then I realized without knowing how long this was going to last, I had to keep a diary.”

The idea for the book came into focus as Schreiber accumulated a series of observations and interactions with others along the way.

“I realized one night while I was laying in bed and couldn’t shut my mind off, I had to keep a diary of what I was writing and people I met,” he said.

He added that he “became more and more fascinated by the inspiration that I would see around me.”

“Ninety-five percent of the time I’d walk alone and record on my phone what people said, what I’d overhear,” Schreiber said. “It was truly amazing and inspirational. The result of all this was that near the end of what is now my book, I realized how much I have learned, not only about the people I met while walking, but how much I learned about myself. Putting the book together reinforced what I have learned about them and about myself. There are such an amazing amount of benefits to walking.”

Schreiber, who said he’s written multiple books in the past, noted that the challenge this time was writing “in real time,” walking in the morning and writing in the afternoons.

“I tried to document them when I got home and could write,” he said. “This routine of being able to walk and take my ability to walk, and walk fast, and combine it with my writing skills took shape and made absolute sense to me. But once again, I had no idea how long things were going to remain the way they were.”

Shreiber added that his “ultimate goal in writing this book was to inspire people to walk.”

“Even though the book is finished, the 5,712 miles and 19 months are over, I’m still walking,” he said. “And I’ll continue to walk.”

“My Forever Walk to Inspire America” is available on Amazon. Schreiber’s walk can also be followed on Instagram at @stu_dm_