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

DATE: SUNDAY, March 1, 1992                   TAG: 9203030349
SECTION: HORIZON                    PAGE: E-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BETH OBENSHAIN
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

A FASCINATION TO HIS FANS

Elvis' death seemed to hit particularly hard in Fayetteville, N.C., where I lived at the time, because thousands of his local fans were clutching tickets for his upcoming concert in two weeks.

Of course, when the tickets had gone on sale, our newspaper had interviewed the most fanatic fans - the ones who slept in line at the Civic Center to buy the best tickets.

My favorite comment came from a bouffant-haired mid-40s woman who talked ecstatically about her devotion to "The King." One concert wasn't enough. She had driven from city to city, spending days buying tickets for each event.

Her long-suffering husband was there with her. She reached over to pat him on knee and told our reporter, "Why, I married Harold here because he reminded me of Elvis!"

I've always wanted to ask Harold, "HAROLD, what do you think about this?! Your wife married you because you look like ELVIS?! Are you going to put up with this?"

Oh, well. For all I know, it was the proudest moment in Harold's life.

Elvis had performed in Fayetteville a year or two earlier - to an auditorium packed with fans who had spent days, weeks looking forward to that concert.

The next day, the headline in our paper read: "Shake, rattle and roly-poly."

Bad mistake.

Outraged fans wrote angry letters for six months demanding an apology for Elvis.

We learned one lesson: Don't mess with The King. There are some topics too sacred for humor.

Myself? Well, I've always been both amused by and envious of the women so fascinated with Elvis.

Shouldn't there be one thing in my life that I care about totally, passionately. Even if it's Elvis?

by CNB