Back in June, fellow barefooter Alan Bruens was profiled in the Advertiser-News (North). He’s now moved on to bigger and better things: New Jersey Monthly Magazine.
In addition to being a nice article, this one has a killer caricature of Alan
[A repost.]
The magazine article is Sole Man: A Vernon Township Man Disavows . . . Shoes?, with the sub-title, “Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor broken glass can stay this Jersey guy from going barefoot everywhere.” That’s kind of cute.
We’ve seen Alan before, when he had issues with the Grand Canyon bus service. Here’s a picture of him from that visit to the Grand Canyon.
Alan Just Below the Grand Canyon Rim
The new story is very nice, and remains respectful. Alan answers two main questions from the interviewer: What about broken glass and frigid weather?
“Broken glass is virtually not existent, and a seasoned barefooter will spot it a mile away,” says Bruens. “Temperature is a different matter. People adjust differently and at different paces, but after all these years, I am very used to both hot and cold.” He describes his lower extremities as “pretty tough,” with “double the thickness of skin on the average sole.”
A confrontation he had in the Newark Airport is also described.
“I had gone there to pick up a friend returning from a business trip. I had settled in to reading a book while waiting, when I was approached by two Port Authority cops who insisted that I had to wear shoes because it was a state health law. I explained there was no such law and offered to produce a letter from the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services by way of proof. At first they refused, and in turn I refused to back down. By then we had drawn a small, interested crowd, so in the interest of peace I agreed to put on my flip flops if they would read the letter, which they did. They left but remained in viewing distance, probably to make sure I kept them on.”
One exciting thing is that Alan has become an effective ambassador for barefooting. Mainly that’s just being out and about, being seen. But also, once one local news story is done, often other media outlets will pick up on that, and thus the word gets spread.
But the best part of the article is the caricature they did to illustrate it.
Alan Bruens — Super Barefooter
I think they got a pretty good likeness—I would be flattered to have something similar done about me.
Anyways, go read the whole article.
Ahcuah 
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