WALKING Across America, which took maths teacher Roger Frear 111 days to complete in 1980, has since taken him almost ten years to write and his publishers a further 12 years to get into print.

Now his lavishly illustrated 250-page account of the 3,200-mile odyssey from Los Angeles to New York is available from bookstores around his home at Christchurch in Dorset.

Roger, 59, had to give up his job as a school teacher in the New Forest to embark on the trans-American trek, which he undertook to raise money for the Wessex body scanner appeal after his father died of cancer.

Along the route he wore out ten pairs of walking boots, his feet swelled by two shoe sizes, his weight dropped to barely nine stone and he took more than 400 photographs.

Walking solo, apart from ten days in the Mojave Desert where he shared the trail with another hiker, Roger also encountered heartwarming hospitality from folk who provided bed and board. And despite ccasional heartstopping hostility from snakes and a rifle-waving redneck who wanted to give him a lift, he described his adventure as 'the highlight of my life'.

Roger still keeps in contact with some of the people he met, including a dentist in New Mexico who fixed his toothache.

He said: "I planned the walk after doing John O'Groats to Lands End but, as I needed three to four months, I resigned from my teaching post where I was Head of Maths.

"My father died from cancer and I became involved with the Wessex Bodyscanner Appeal.

"They were trying to raise money for a bodyscanner for Southampton General Hospital so I decided to raise money for the appeal from my walk.

"I promised my mother that I would write a book about my American walk but she died before it was published."

Roger had many escapades - including being bitten three times on the face by a snake and having a car driver point a shotgun at him because he would not accept a lift.

"That was scary," he said. "Along some parts of the road, the road signs were covered in bulletholes where the locals had taken potshots. But most of the people I met were very kind.

"I'm still in touch with the many Americans I met, and I've given copies of the book to them to thank them for their kindness."

Back in England, Roger took a number of temporary teaching posts around the New Forest before taking early retirement from Bransgore Primary School and he now works as a part-time supply teacher.

He also found time to walk 2,000 miles north to south across Australia from Darwin to Adelaide and is currently "Munro bagging" by climbing some of the mini mountains in Scotland.

"Walking across America was the most amazing experience and I raised tens of thousands of pounds for the Bodyscanner appeal.

"There were times when I seriously felt like giving up but knowing that people were depending on me made me keep on walking."

Walking Across America by Roger Frear is available priced £9.50 from selected outlets including Bookends in Christchurch, the Furlong Bookshop in Ringwood and New Milton Bookshop in Station Road, Chapter One in Hythe or direct from the author by calling 01425 278631.