BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Bakersfield’s kindness ambassador to the world, Chuck Wall, has died at the age of 80.
The longtime Bakersfield College professor, blind since the age of 19, when retinitis pigmentosa took his sight, was often credited with having created the slogan “random acts of kindness.”
Not true, he said.
“It’s been around for a long time and in fact in the Bible there are some 26 references to acts of kindness,” Wall told 17 News in 2016. “And while I’m getting old, I’m not that old.”
Wall did popularize the concept with books, lectures, hundreds of television and radio appearances, and bumper stickers that called up people to be their better selves.
The one-time professor of the year for the California community college system won worldwide acclaim for his simple message: A little extra kindness can make this world a better place, and it’s not hard to do.
“Basically, we are kind. We just have to be reminded,” Wall said.
Wall — who was married to his wife Di for 56 years — died on June 8.
He asked that no funeral or memorial service be held for him.
Perhaps in honor of Chuck Wall, we can all just show a little extra kindness.
