Alvin Straight
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Alvin Straight (1920–1996) was a resident of Laurens, Iowa. He gained fame for traveling 240 miles on a 1966 John Deere lawn mower to visit his 80-year-old ill brother in Mount Zion, Wisconsin. His brother had recently had a stroke. At a top speed of five miles per hour, the journey took six weeks. The trip took place in the summer of 1994 when Alvin was 73 years old.
Straight's story was adapted into the film The Straight Story, directed by David Lynch, which starred Richard Farnsworth as Alvin Straight.
[edit] External links
- Des Moines Register biography [1]