Master of Nedlands

or many Western Australians, Ross Seaton (1944–2020) was the ‘Walking Man.’ He is a vivid memory, a point of reference, a marker in our unfolding lives. A feature of the local landscape for decades, he pushed his wheelbarrow along Stirling Highway, making his daily journey toward the ocean. On the way, he collected cardboard and other treasures left by the roadside. Hunched over, always in shorts, his mahogany-brown legs wrapped in bandages, and his eyes focused and alert, he was mysterious and uncommunicative. A compelling figure, his self-directed quest seemed laudable in an increasingly controlled and directed world. He was his own man, a