Bill Holden
Bill Holden (born
1948 in
Elgin, Illinois), is a teacher who embarked on a 2,100 miles walk, from
Arizona to
Chicago, during
2005, hoping to raise $250,000
dollars to be donated to the
American Diabetes Association so that a cure for juvenile
diabetes can be found. Holden made national headlines with his walk.
Bill Holden grew up at the beginning of the
television era in the
United States. His father was a die-hard
baseball fan. In
1957, Holden had his first in-person baseball experience, going to a
Chicago Cubs home game. Holden became a lifetime Cubs fan instantly.
Ron Santo became Holden's favorite player.
Holden followed the Cubs the rest of his life after having seen them play in person for the first time. He chose to become a teacher instead of a baseball player, however, and, in
1966, he enrolled at
Southern Illinois University, graduating with a degree in
pedagogy in
1970.
Holden got his first job as a teacher in
1973. He has been working as a teacher since. He became interested in teaching
Native American children, so, after many years teaching in the
Illinois public
schools system, he relocated to
Camp Verde, Arizona. At Camp Verde, he became aware of the alarming incidence of diabetes among Indian children. He started teaching groups of children that suffered from the disease.
On
new year's eve 2004, his son presented him with the
docu-
film This Old Cub, based on Santo's experience as a diabetic player in
MLB. After watching the film seven times before going to bed that morning, Holden became inspired and convinced that he needed to do something to help find a cure for diabetes.
On
January 11, 2005, Holden began his walk, hoping to cover at least 12
miles each day. Holden crossed six states, including
New Mexico,
Texas,
Oklahoma and
Missouri, apart from Arizona and Illinois. Among the things he had to battle along the way were tiredness and the
summer heat. According to his own account, Holden had a brush with
death when he was about to get run over by a car, but the drivers recognized him and waved.
Holden had told Santo about the fund raising walk before it took place, gaining Santo's admiration.
On
June 29, Holden arrived at
Harry Caray's restaurant in
Rosemont. He overnighted there, as he had previously done in several odd places and small
hotels.
After arriving at the famous Cubs baseball
stadium, the
Wrigley Field on
July 1, Holden, who was joined by Illinois Governor
Rod Blagojevich during the final steps of his walk, threw that day's symbolic first pitch to
Kerry Wood, as the Cubs played the
Washington Nationals. During the game's seventh inning stretch, he and Santo sang the
Take me Out to the Ballgame baseball hymn.
Bill Holden has
arthritis in both of his knees. His fund-raising walk made headlines in
newspapers across his home country, including
The Arizona Republic and many others.
Ron Santo told reporters that
When he mentioned the fact that he was going to walk from Arizona to Wrigley Field to raise money for diabetes, I couldn't believe it! Then, when I heard he was 20 miles away, I'm saying 'get in the car and drive it. You've made it!' But he said, 'Nope, I'm going to walk'. I mean, think about that. It's Amazing!List of celebrities with diabetes*
thisoldcub.com
