
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, July 8, 1990                   TAG: 9007060092
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: EX4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ANN LANDERS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

A DEATH REMEMBERED $1 AT A TIME

DEAR ANN: Susan Herzog was 18 when she was killed in Fairfax County, Va., on New Year's Day in 1982. The young man who killed her was Kevin Tunell. He was 17 and intoxicated. The case went to the juvenile court. Tunell was convicted of manslaughter and drunken driving.

The Herzogs filed a suit for $1.5 million but settled for $936 to be paid every Friday, $1 at a time. The idea behind these weekly payments was to remind Tunell on a regular basis, until the year 2000, that he took this young girl's life.

At his sentencing, Tunell was ordered to spend a year talking to groups about the evils of drunk driving. He completed that part of his sentence but seems to have trouble with the weekly payments, so the Herzogs keep hauling him into court.

Tunell offered the Herzogs a box of signed checks for $1 each covering the payments. The Herzogs refused to accept the checks. Tunell said the Herzogs are being cruel because they will not allow him to put this incident behind him and get on with his life. (He was recently in court for the fourth time.)

Mr. Herzog told Tunell, "If you want to get on with your life, just put that check for $1 in the mail every Friday. That's the day Susan was killed."

There has been a lot of discussion about the punitive attitude of these parents. When is enough enough, Ann? - Undecided in Missouri

DEAR MISSOURI: Kevin Tunell killed Susan Herzog and she is just as dead as if he had shot her with a gun. Of course it's a nuisance to have to mail a check for $1 every Friday for 18 years. It would be much easier to hand over all the checks at once.

You can be sure the Herzogs would be thrilled to send a check for 100 times that amount every Friday to Kevin Tunell if they could have their daughter back. Does that answer your question?

DEAR ANN: A gentleman I met recently paid me a great compliment. He said, "You have class." When I asked what that meant, he said, "Ann Landers defined class in a column many years ago. Ask her to run it again." So, dear lady, will you? - Love in Bloom in Kansas

DEAR LOVE: With pleasure. Here it is: Class (by Ann Landers)

Class never runs scared. It is surefooted and confident.

Class has a sense of humor. It knows that a good laugh is the best lubricant for oiling the machinery of human relations.

Class never makes excuses. It takes its lumps and learns from past mistakes. Class knows that good manners are nothing more than a series of petty sacrifices.

Class bespeaks an aristocracy that has nothing to do with money. Some extremely wealthy people have no class at all while others who are struggling to make ends meet are loaded with it.

Class is real. You can't fake it.

If you have class you've got it made. If you don't have class, no matter what else you have, it doesn't make any difference. Creators Syndicate

by CNB