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David Sedaris's name is now on a garbage truck

As thanks for his efforts picking up trash, the council for the UK area in which Sedaris lives has named a garbage truck after him. 

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Anne Fishbein/Little, Brown and Company
David Sedaris is the author of works such as 'Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls.'
  • By Molly Driscoll Staff Writer

David Sedaris is now famous in the area of West Sussex for something besides his bestselling books. 

Sedaris has written previously about how he has roamed the area near his house picking up garbage. “I’ve been cleaning the roads in my area of Sussex for three years now,” he wrote in a recent New Yorker essay. “You can tell where my territory ends and the rest of England begins. It’s like going from the rose arbor in Sissinghurst to Fukushima after the tsunami. The difference is staggering.”

As mentioned in his essay, the Horsham District Council decided to thank him for his efforts by putting his name on a garbage truck.

“In recognition for all his fantastic work and dedication and as a token of Horsham District Council’s appreciation, the council has named one of their waste vehicles after him,” an article appearing in the West Sussex County Times read. “The vehicle [is] bedecked with its bespoke ‘Pig Pen Sedaris’ sign… Thrilled to have the vehicle named after him, David ‘Pig Pen’ Sedaris, said: ‘When I first moved to Horsham district three years ago I was struck by the area’s outstanding natural beauty but I was also struck by all the rubbish that people leave lying around the roads. I’m angry at the people who throw these things out their car windows, but I’m just as angry at the people who walk by it every day. I say pick it up yourself. Do it enough and you might one day get a garbage truck named after you. It’s an amazing feeling.’”

Sedaris’s publisher Little, Brown tweeted a picture of the truck, writing, “This is priceless.”

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