Not Just a Walk In the Park: A Sixty-Five-Year-Old Man’s Twelve-Hundred-Mile Trek from Tampa to the Bronx

For author Richard John Albero, this story starts with the tragedy of 9/11 when his nephew lost his life in that attack. In Not Just a Walk in the Park, Albero offers a first-person account of his 1,200-mile solo walk from Tampa, Florida, to the Bronx, New York, in honor of his nephew, Gary. In this memoir, Albero, who was sixty-five and retired at the time of his trek, narrates the stories of his three-month odyssey from home plate at Steinbrenner Field, the New York Yankees’ spring training home in Tampa, to stepping on home plate at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. That journey reflects both uncle and nephew’s shared pinstripe heritage as dedicated Yankees fans. As a memorial to Gary, Albero dedicated each mile to past and present New York Yankees players, raising $56,000 for the Wounded Warrior Project. Hilarious at times, harrowing at others, and always gripping, Not Just a Walk in the Park offers insights into personal courage, love of country, and the meaning of family.