Plennie L. Wingo

Plennie Lawrence Wingo (January 24, 1895 – October 2, 1993) was an American man who walked backwards from Santa Monica, California to Istanbul, Turkey, about , from April 15, 1931 to October 24, 1932, at the age of 36. He remains the Guinness record holder for "greatest extent of reverse pedestrianism".

Biography

Plennie L. Wingo owned a small diner in Abilene, Texas, but it closed with the onset of the Great Depression and Wingo was out of work like much of America in 1931. At the time, "stunts" were commonplace such as flagpole sitting, or Bill Williams who pushed a peanut up Pikes Peak with his nose. Wingo overheard some children say everything had been done, there was nothing left to do, to which Wingo spontaneously responded no one had ever walked around the world backwards. The idea stuck with him, and he thought the stunt could be a way to make some money. He bought a pair of reverse-looking mirrored glasses and trained with a local doctor and on April 15, 1931, facing west, set out east. In July 1976 at the age of 81, he walked across the width of California, selling postcards for a dollar. He died at home age 98 on October 2, 1993, and is buried in Wichita Falls, Texas. He remains the Guinness record holder for "greatest extent of reverse pedestrianism". His story was told by The Dollop Podcast, episode 493.