Starting out in 1953, Mildred Norman changed her name to "Peace Pilgrim" and began a walk that only ended at her death 28 years later in 1981. She walked across America many times and much of Canada. By 1964, she estimated she had walked 25,000 miles and then stopped counting. People took notice.

She gave new meaning to the word minimalist,…

"Americans now walk the least of any industrialized nation in the world," says writer Tom Vanderbilt. 

Talking with Morning Edition co-host Steve Inskeep about what is wrong with Americans' relationship with walking, Vanderbilt says, "The main thing…