Colorful Characters — Worley Stout

There have been a smattering of barefoot runners since Abebe Bikila. Of course there is Zola Budd, and I’ve written about Dale Story and Marcus Clarke.

Here’s another one: Worley Stout.

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Lack of Support for Support

There is a very interesting (and long) article about whether bare feet are better at the Neuroanthropology site. The article is well supported with scientific articles.

The article’s discussion of “support” and what is “natural” got me thinking about a different way to look at things.

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An Interview

I’m pulling out something from a few years ago, when I first started fighting the Ohio Statehouse when they wanted to institute a footwear rule. You can see all those posts here.

Along the way, I did a few interviews. I recently came across one I did for the NPR program Whad’Ya Know? with Michael Feldman.

It’s rather interesting.

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Children in a Democracy

I have a picture for you to take a look at. See if you can figure out what was wrong with it, so much so that it was ripped off the cover of an official governmental report.

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OSHA. Oh, Sure.

Barefooters will sometimes be told by store employees that they have to wear shoes because “OSHA requires it.” OSHA is the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and it only applies to employees, not customers.

And even then, there is no specific rule that says that even store employees need to wear shoes (though of course the business itself might require them).

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The Barefoot Schoolboy: Barefoot . . . in School

Let me finish of with what happened with our barefoot schoolboy in 1903. We found out about his father’s request in A Barefoot Schoolboy. We saw the letter his father sent to the Board of Education, and some of the motivation in More on the Barefoot Schoolboy.

How did the Board rule?

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More on the Barefoot Schoolboy

Yesterday I presented the New York Times story about Harold Smith, whose father Victor petitioned the Jersey City Board of Education to allow Harold, age 10, to go barefoot to school there.

Here’s another story, also from before the Board met to decide his fate, with a bit more information.

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A Barefoot Schoolboy

These days practically all schools require shoes. That’s just the way it is, and I suspect it is that way just because . . . that’s just the way it has been.

A lot of that is just cultural. Here’s a story from the September 12, 1903 New York Times about a father petitioning the school to let his son attend his Jersey City school barefoot. Just the thought was enough to make the news . . . in New York City. Meanwhile, in rural districts all over America, large numbers of children were attending school barefoot without their school districts batting an eye.

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Colorful Characters — The Shoeless Wonders

Back in the 1920s there was a High School football team in Lynchburg, VA that went undefeated for 8 years.

And oh yeah. They played barefooted.

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Magazine Profile — Alan Bruens

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

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Shoes are a Necessity

The guest yesterday on The Huffington Post’s C-Suite was Blake Mycoskie, the CEO of TOMS shoes.

He actually seemed like a very nice guy—very caring and socially responsible. But . . .

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Jimmy Buffett — Timid Barefooter

Jimmy Buffett is pretty well-known for going barefoot, at least during his concerts. It’s part of being a relaxed parrothead. I’m reminded of him since I caught him on the Ellen Show yesterday.

But celebrity barefooting always seems to be rather limited.

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Huff-Po Bait-and-Switch

Yesterday’s Huffington Post had a promising article in it, It’s Simple, Easy And Free — And It Will Improve Your Health. Well, that sounds nice. What is it? Walking.

And the lead illustration is one we can all appreciate.

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A Boy After My Own Heart

Here’s a story from the Hutchinson (Kansas) News Herald from January 1947. It’s about a barefoot boy who knows what he prefers . . . even in winter.

There’s a real contrast with the way this would have turned out today.

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Under the Old Oak Tree

In addition to their Daily Dozen, photos that readers send in, the National Geographic also does a Photo-of-the-Day. (This page does not use flash.)

A few days ago, it featured an ancient, really impressive oak tree, with four barefoot children on it.

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