Reno icon 'Waver' returned to Cedar Rapids, becomes flood victim; Wife learned of terminal lung cancer a week before flood

From Las Vegas Review-Journal:

[Ed] Carlson became known for waving while smiling on daily walks between Carson City and Reno after moving to Nevada around 1973. ...Within the past two years, he moved back to Iowa and remarried his former wife, Bonnie. ..."Over the years my life wasn't to make money, but now we need money."

[Ed] Carlson became known for waving while smiling on daily walks between Carson City and Reno after moving to Nevada around 1973. ...

Within the past two years, he moved back to Iowa and remarried his former wife, Bonnie. ...

"Over the years my life wasn't to make money, but now we need money."

More about Ed Carlson in this 1997 Gazette article:

Ed Carlson holds a copy of his book, I Walked to the Moon and Almost Everybody Waved

Ed Carlson holds a copy of his book,

THE GAZETTE01/11/1997Section: APage: 1'The Waver' now a published writerAnn HaggertyGazette news internThe man you see walking along First Avenue East and waving from time to time now has a book to explain why he does what he does.Ed Carlson, also known as "The Waver," talks about his philosophy of love and peace in the 173-page softcover book titled "I Walked to the Moon and Almost Everybody Waved" (Stillpoint Publishing International, $12.95).The title alludes to the number of miles Carlson has walked - nearly 200,000, waving most of the way - over the past 23 years."My path has been to wave all these years," Carlson said."This book is another way to wave, to get that message of love out."Carlson, 60, grew up in Burlington and now lives in Reno, Nev. He visits Cedar Rapids, where three of his four daughters live, several months each year.Carlson said he filled his book with stories he's shared over the years with church groups and in schools and prisons, most of them in Nevada.In his travels, Carlson said, he's hitchhiked across the country 60 times, making one of those trips blindfolded. He did that, he said, "to see how the senses expand without eyesight and to prove we could trust other people if we have no fear."Carlson worked as a salesman, a nightclub manager, a carpenter and a deputy sheriff before he started walking and waving. Since then, he said, he has relied on the kindness of strangers to meet his basic needs. He said he does not receive Social Security or disability payments.Carlson said he started walking at the lowest point in his life, when his wife left him, taking their daughters with her. Then, one day after fasting for three days in the mountains, he said he heard an inner voice that changed his life."It said, 'Start walking and share the love you feel, and no matter what people do to you, love them back."'Seven years ago, he said, a Reno reporter asked him how many miles he'd walked. He provided an estimate, and the reporter, Carlson said, responded, "Ed, I think that's all the way to the moon."The moon is actually 238,857 miles away. But the line inspired a book and a companion tape recording.

01/11/1997

Section: A

Page: 1

'The Waver' now a published writer

Ann Haggerty

Gazette news intern

The man you see walking along First Avenue East and waving from time to time now has a book to explain why he does what he does.

Ed Carlson, also known as "The Waver," talks about his philosophy of love and peace in the 173-page softcover book titled "I Walked to the Moon and Almost Everybody Waved" (Stillpoint Publishing International, $12.95).

The title alludes to the number of miles Carlson has walked - nearly 200,000, waving most of the way - over the past 23 years.

"My path has been to wave all these years," Carlson said.

"This book is another way to wave, to get that message of love out."

Carlson, 60, grew up in Burlington and now lives in Reno, Nev. He visits Cedar Rapids, where three of his four daughters live, several months each year.

Carlson said he filled his book with stories he's shared over the years with church groups and in schools and prisons, most of them in Nevada.

In his travels, Carlson said, he's hitchhiked across the country 60 times, making one of those trips blindfolded. He did that, he said, "to see how the senses expand without eyesight and to prove we could trust other people if we have no fear."

Carlson worked as a salesman, a nightclub manager, a carpenter and a deputy sheriff before he started walking and waving. Since then, he said, he has relied on the kindness of strangers to meet his basic needs. He said he does not receive Social Security or disability payments.

Carlson said he started walking at the lowest point in his life, when his wife left him, taking their daughters with her. Then, one day after fasting for three days in the mountains, he said he heard an inner voice that changed his life.

"It said, 'Start walking and share the love you feel, and no matter what people do to you, love them back."'

Seven years ago, he said, a Reno reporter asked him how many miles he'd walked. He provided an estimate, and the reporter, Carlson said, responded, "Ed, I think that's all the way to the moon."

The moon is actually 238,857 miles away. But the line inspired a book and a companion tape recording.