http://www.reformer.com/localnews/ci_7719302Nirenberg still stepping lively on impeachment walk to WashingtonBy PAUL H. HEINTZ, Reformer Staff
Friday, December 14
BRATTLEBORO -- After walking 130 miles, twisting his ankle and getting thrown out of his old high school, John Nirenberg is feeling good about his impeachment-fueled odyssey from Boston to Washington, D.C.
"My spirits are great --better than ever," he said. "Day by day it's just been unbelievable."
That's a good thing, because he still has another 355 miles to go.
Nirenberg, a 60-year-old, retired School for International Training dean, has been marching south along the Boston Post Road, U.S. Route 1, since delivering a fiery speech from the steps of Faneuil Hall in Boston on Dec. 1. Along the way, he carries a yellow sign that reads, "Save the Constitution," and "Impeach Bush/Cheney." On Wednesday night, after 11 days on the road, he reached Guilford, Conn.
Nirenberg's journey has garnered attention along the way from local newspapers and radio stations, whose reports have resulted in some 30 people joining him -- for a walk around the block or for miles at a time.
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Of those who demonstrate their feelings one way or the other, Nirenberg said, some 80 percent have been supportive. And those who are not supportive just don't get it, he maintains.
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When he attempted to visit the high school from which he graduated in 1964, however, he was not met with a particularly warm reception. Nirenberg tried unsuccessfully to phone the principal of Lyme-Old Lyme High School hoping to speak to a social studies class, but when he showed up a day later, the school's receptionist said he could not bring his sign inside the building and then called the police.
"It was horrifying, actually, to be treated like some criminal. That this woman was so shocked that I would have an opinion and how dare I have it on a poster and bring it into school. It was like I was contaminating the place," he said. Shortly thereafter, a state trooper arrived, escorted him off the property and told him he could not take a picture of the public school because it was "private property."
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"I'm growing in confidence on these things -- thinking about it and talking to so many people about it," he said. "One thing I'm wondering is why there aren't more people out there. Unless I'm working myself into a crazy frenzy, these are issues that need to be addressed. So where is everybody?"
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