Detroit 'Walking Man' Settling in After $350K Nest Egg from Strangers

James Robertson says Detroit, not Los Angeles, is the “real city of angels” after his story inspired hundreds to donate more than $350,000. (Screenshot and video via Detroit Free Press)

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In the dizzying month and a half since complete strangers, inspired by his 21-mile daily walk to a Rochester Hills factory job, handed him a $350,000 nest egg and a car dealership gave him the keys to a shiny new red car, “Walking Man” James Robertson has abandoned an old life he says never suited him well in the first place.

He has had two new addresses as he tries to stay ahead of old acquaintances who want a share of his windfall, and a protective order has been issued against his former girlfriend and landlady.

The 56-year-old plastic-molding operator now lives at a secret location in Troy. Keeping Robertson safe is a top priority, especially after an 86-year-old man who won a $20,000 lottery winner was found dead in a vacant house in Detroit last month.

That’s the price of Robertson’s fame. They’re also just details.

“I may have been born there, but God knows I don’t belong there anymore,” Robertson told Detroit Free Press reporter Bill Laitner, whose Feb. 10 story touched the hearts and opened the wallets of people around the world.

Related:

• Internet Rallies to Buy Car for Man Who Walks 21 Miles to Work
• Detroit is Real ‘City of Angels,’ Man Says of Internet Drive to Buy Him a Car

One of those touched by the story, Wayne State University student Evan Leedy, 19, of Macomb Township, started what became a $350,000 GoFundMe campaign.

Two others also started crowd-funding campaigns. Jiyan Cadiz,31, of Rochester Hills, raised $6,000 that paid for new furniture for Robertson’s new digs. Maggie Mastro, 31, of Ferndale, raised about $2,700 that paid for Robertson’s first month’s rent and went into account for household incidentals.

Robertson kept his job, though instead of walking, he now drives the loaded red Ford Taurus donated by a Sterling Heights auto dealership to his $10.55-an-hour job at Schain Mold & Engineering.

“I’m going to keep working – that’s for sure,” he said.

The donations have been invested in a trust account, and Robertson doesn’t expect to touch the principal until he retires.

After experiencing the largesse of others, Robertson is eager to share in his new-found wealth.

“I feel like it’s this way – why should I enjoy all this by myself?” he said, explaining his recent $300 donation at a Salvation Army Radiothon fund-raiser held at Emagine theater in Royal Oak. “I should share it.”

He has designated the Salvation Army, which assists people in his former circumstances, as the benefactor of his nest egg if anything happens to him.

Tell Us:

• How has James Robertson’s story inspired you? Are there things you think about differently now?

Oh, and there’s one other thing:

Robertson is sleeping – a lot. He began his daily commute to work, hoofing it where the metro bus service left off, a decade ago when the engine of his 1988 Honda Accord turned over for the past time.

The arduous daily trek – he never missed a day of work – meant he only got about two hours of sleep a night. Now he’s getting seven.

Robertson’s story shed light on important issues that continue to marginalize Detroit’s poor, including the new reality of low-wage jobs; auto insurance rates that are the costliest in the United States; and gaps in mass transit service.

Below, watch James Robertson’s thank you message via the Detroit Free Press.