Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 6, 1991 TAG: 9103060422
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MELANIE S. HATTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Since the story about Tammy Harris appeared in Tuesday's newspaper, she has been inundated with phone calls from newspapers, television and radio stations from as far away as Australia and Canada.
Harris, who was adopted, had searched for a year to find her birth mother, only to discover that she was a co-worker at the Stop In Food Store on Melrose Avenue.
The story was picked up by The Associated Press, eventually finding its way to a radio station in Adelaide, Australia.
"We were all laughing and talking about the article when the first call came in," Stop In manager Ron Lynch said.
Calls came from The Washington Post, The Miami Herald, and "A Current Affair" among others. "Inside Edition" will interview Harris today.
Harris said her first thought, when the phone calls wouldn't stop, was "What have I done? I've started a snowball I can't stop."
She spent most of Tuesday doing live interviews over the telephone with radio stations in New Jersey, New York, Washington and Chicago.
"It's good 'cause I want everyone to know I'm complete, at least more complete than I was," she said. "I'll be complete when I find my brothers."
Harris received a call from a man in Charlotte, N.C., which may be a lead to finding her brothers, she said.
Amid all the excitement, a Roanoke couple found themselves answering a few surprising wrong-number calls.
Attempting to find Harris, some reporters called the first T. Harris in the Roanoke telephone book.
Wanda and Terry Harris of Roanoke received about 15 phone calls Tuesday, including two from Canada and one from Australia.
by CNB