Sergio Louks, 35, walks I-40 in Oklahoma City, Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012. Louks has been walking from Michigan to California to see Ellen DeGeneres, who he hopes to share his ideas and inventions to help the environment. Photo by Garett Fisbeck, The Oklahoman
Today I got a call from my boss, Doug Hoke, who told me there was a guy in a cowboy hat hauling four carts behind him heading south on 1-44.
After I finished my assignment at the downtown library, I drove in that direction to see if I could find him.
Sure enough, there he was, exiting onto I-40.
I pulled to the side of the highway and approached him.
“I was wondering when you were going to show up,” he said, pulling his headphones out.
He stopped and started to show me newspaper clippings from past states he had visited.
His name is Sergio Louks, the “Brazilian Hobo”, and he has been walking since Sept. 1, 2012. He started in his hometown of New Buffalo, Michigan, and he is headed to California to see Ellen DeGeneres.
“It’s a do-or-die situation, because I’m trying to save the planet from self-destruction,” he said.
Louks is concerned with the amount to trash he sees in America, and he wants to share his ideas and inventions to help the environment with Ellen Degeneres, who he says is the only T.V. person who will understand him because they have such similar personalities.
Louks was born in Brazil, and recalls being surrounded by lush green jungles, and he wants to do his part in making the environment better.
When asked what keeps him going, he says, “Trash. All the trash. The more trash I see, the more I want to go.”
Sergio Louks, 35, walks I-40 in Oklahoma City, Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012. Louks has been walking from Michigan to California to see Ellen DeGeneres, who he hopes to share his ideas and inventions to help the environment. Photo by Garett Fisbeck, The Oklahoman
Sergio Louks, 35, walks I-40 in Oklahoma City, Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012. Louks has been walking from Michigan to California to see Ellen DeGeneres, who he hopes to share his ideas and inventions to help the environment. Photo by Garett Fisbeck, The Oklahoman
Sergio Louks, 35, walks I-40 in Oklahoma City, Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012. Louks has been walking from Michigan to California to see Ellen DeGeneres, who he hopes to share his ideas and inventions to help the environment. Photo by Garett Fisbeck, The Oklahoman
Sergio Louks, 35, walks I-40 in Oklahoma City, Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012. Louks has been walking from Michigan to California to see Ellen DeGeneres, who he hopes to share his ideas and inventions to help the environment. Photo by Garett Fisbeck, The Oklahoman
Sergio Louks, 35, looks at a newspaper story about him on the side of I-40 in Oklahoma City, Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012. Louks has been walking from Michigan to California to see Ellen DeGeneres, who he hopes to share his ideas and inventions to help the environment. Photo by Garett Fisbeck, The Oklahoman
Sergio Louks, 35, stops to check how much daylight he has left in Oklahoma City, Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012. Louks has been walking from Michigan to California to see Ellen DeGeneres, who he hopes to share his ideas and inventions to help the environment. Photo by Garett Fisbeck, The Oklahoman
People have written on Sergio Louks' cart along his journey. Louks has been walking from Michigan to California to see Ellen DeGeneres, who he hopes to share his ideas and inventions to help the environment. Photo by Garett Fisbeck, The Oklahoman
Sergio Louks, 35, walks I-40 in Oklahoma City, Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012. Louks has been walking from Michigan to California to see Ellen DeGeneres, who he hopes to share his ideas and inventions to help the environment. Photo by Garett Fisbeck, The Oklahoman
Sergio Louks, 35, walks I-40 in Oklahoma City, Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012. Louks has been walking from Michigan to California to see Ellen DeGeneres, who he hopes to share his ideas and inventions to help the environment. Photo by Garett Fisbeck, The Oklahoman
-Garett Fisbeck
