Their around-the-world honeymoon never ended

By Stephanie Hayes, Times staff writer
In print: Wednesday, April 23, 2008

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ST. PETERSBURG — Philip and Florence Walker got hitched in 1951. They took a trip to China to celebrate.

Their honeymoon never really ended.

Mr. Walker caught the travel bug. His wife refused to stay behind while he had all the adventure. He had worked at NBC as a young man, so he knew how to work a camera.

They lugged packs loaded with tripods and zoom lenses. Souvenir purchases, like wood carvings from Germany and glass beads from Venice, had to stay small.

Mrs. Walker, persuasive and sweet, negotiated with travel agents. Her husband, a perfectionist, plotted exotic locations for good shots. He filmed; she took photographs and recorded music.

They went to Hong Kong. New Orleans. Portugal. Spain. Indonesia. Greenland.

He filmed the Swiss Alps from a hot air balloon, but didn't let his wife go. He thought it was too dangerous. She always regretted not going. She wasn't the type who needed protection.

They visited the Renaissance cities where Leonardo da Vinci lived and the Caribbean islands Christopher Columbus explored. They filmed the blue-footed booby in the Galapagos Islands and dived for sea pearls in Japan.

A flight attendant once forbade Mr. Walker from filming in the cockpit. So he hung out in a nearby bathroom. He eventually finagled a way into the cockpit.

"He was famous for wiggling his way into things," said Maurine Morgan, the couple's friend for 40 years."

Back home, they edited footage into travel films. In cities like New York, California and Pittsburgh, they showed the pieces in auditoriums. Mr. Walker, who had a deep voice, narrated the films without the help of notes.

Audience members were smitten.

"People would fight over them," Morgan said. "It was kind of famous that they would go somewhere to be entertained."

Mrs. Walker often interrupted her husband during discussions. He'd roll his eyes and let her finish.

In 1996, they retired to St. Petersburg, eventually moving to Golfview Healthcare Center, Mr. Walker dealt with dementia. He didn't always remember things, his wife had said. But his hugs felt the same.

On April 6, Mr. Walker died. He was 91.

Morgan wrote an obituary for Mr. Walker. She showed it to his wife, who had fallen and used a wheelchair. She was so happy she cried. Then, she admitted her own life was "getting late."

Twelve days after her husband died, Mrs. Walker had trouble breathing. She died Friday. She was 86.

Stephanie Hayes can be reached at shayes@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8857.