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

DATE: MONDAY, February 4, 1991                   TAG: 9102040004
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: E-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

PEOPLE

"I signed my record deal when I was 17 and it has taken me this time to gather enough information and mull it over and reach a conclusion," O'Connor said in a letter sent Friday to the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences.

The 24-year-old singer, known for her distinctive close-cropped hairstyle, was nominated in four Grammy categories for her album, "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got." She was scheduled to perform her song, "Nothing Compares 2 U," at the Feb. 20 ceremony.

James Michener, who turned 84 Sunday, says the passage of time doesn't mean he's been put out to pasture. It does, however, make him a little tired.

"I don't feel like an elder statesman," said the author of works such as "Hawaii," "Chesapeake," "Centennial" and "Texas." "I am working very diligently. The only change in my life is that I take a nap in the afternoon."

Michener is ending his first winter as a teaching assistant at Eckerd College.

Stefanie Powers says the extinction of wildlife is a sign of the wastefulness of modern life.

"The destruction of an animal species is the symptom of a disease that is killing us all," she said.

Powers is in Nashville appearing with actor Robert Wagner in the play "Love Letters." In the late '70s and early '80s, the two appeared in the television series "Hart to Hart"; Powers also starred as "The Girl from U.N.C.L.E." in the 1960s.

Louise Mandrell says it's a coincidence that she has a military tribute in her upcoming musical production at Opryland USA while the country is at war.

The show, "Love My Country," was written before war broke out in the Middle East, the singer-dancer-instrumentalist said.

"It's going to look as if I put it in because of this - and that's OK because the men deserve it - but the truth is it was already planned because I am really pro-military," she said.

The production includes a military tribute with twirling rifles and uniformed performers representing each branch of the armed forces. It will be presented March 30 through the summer.