Former state lawmaker and longtime environmentalist Ed Fallon has released a memoir of his 2014 cross-country march to raise awareness about climate change.

“Marcher, Walker, Pilgrim” came out just a few days after the Fourth National Climate Assessment showed the environment, and the economy, are in for real trouble if greenhouse gas emissions don’t drop sharply and quickly. 

Fallon’s 3,100-mile walk from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., with a core of a few dozen marchers brought the one-time Democratic candidate for governor and Congress face-to-face with what he saw as evidence climate change already is changing the nation. He also spent a lot of time thinking about his own life. 

“When I decided to write ‘Marcher, Walker, Pilgrim’ after the 2014 march, I had no idea where it would go,” Fallon said. “For me, both walking and writing are cathartic. They have the ability to drag to the surface stuff I’d rather not deal with. So, while the focus of the march and the book were on how climate impacted marchers and those we met along the way, the book also became a very personal narrative about challenges in my life that go beyond the climate crisis. I believe that makes the book more ‘real,’ more readable. The stats and data on climate are out there, easily accessed. People’s eyes often glaze over when they hear them. Perhaps a story that is more personal, a story that ties in aspects of life that others can relate to even while the author is engaged in an action (walking 3,100 miles) that few people would attempt, will make the urgent reality of climate change more relatable.“

Fallon’s book launch party is set for 2 p.m. Sunday at 500 E. Locust St., above Wooly’s.

Full disclosure: The book was published by Business Publications Corp.’s WriteBrain division.