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Arthur Blessitt, whose fervent efforts to convert the hippies, freaks and addicts along Hollywood\u2019s Sunset Strip were just a prelude to his decision to carry a 110-pound wooden cross from Los Angeles to New York City \u2014 and then to keep going, eventually traveling 43,340 miles through every country on the planet \u2014 died on Jan. 14. He was 84.<\/p>\n
Mr. Blessitt\u2019s death was announced in a first-person statement<\/a> on his website. The statement did not say where he died or cite a cause of death. He had been living in the Denver area, and his ministry was based in the suburb of Littleton, Colo.<\/p>\n A Southern Baptist preacher who ran a Christian coffeehouse adjacent to a strip club, Mr. Blessitt started his journey on Christmas Day 1969, bearing his homemade 6-by-12-foot cross on his shoulder. He made adjustments along the way, swapping his sandals for boots and adding a 12-inch wheel to the base of his burden; he later swapped the heavy cross for a 42-pound version that he could split in two, making it easier to ship.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n It took him six months to walk across the country. When he was done, he returned to Los Angeles, only to receive \u2014 in his telling \u2014 orders from Jesus to take his journey global.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cGo!\u201d Jesus told him, he recounted on his website. \u201cI want you to go all the way.\u201d<\/p>\n His first trip abroad, in 1971, was to Northern Ireland; other parts of Europe, Africa, the Middle East and East Asia soon followed.<\/p>\n He carried a roll of stickers reading \u201cSmile! Jesus Loves You,\u201d which he handed out to curious passers-by. Not everyone was friendly: Police officers harassed him, malcontents jeered, and his cross was stolen in \u2014 of all places \u2014 Assisi, Italy, where St. Francis had once lived.<\/p>\n \u201cSome people see me and shout, \u2018You\u2019re a nut!\u2019\u201d he said in the 2009 documentary \u201cThe Cross: The Arthur Blessitt Story<\/a>,\u201d directed by Matthew Crouch. \u201cI say, \u2018That\u2019s all right, at least I\u2019m screwed on the right bolt.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Blessitt kept meticulous notes abroad, detailing how long his boot soles lasted (about 500 miles) and how often he was arrested (24 times). He visited every continent, including Antarctica, as well as war zones, disaster zones and many other places where he was liable to get shot at, beaten or arrested.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n