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

DATE: SUNDAY, March 1, 1992                   TAG: 9203030364
SECTION: HORIZON                    PAGE: E-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MARY LINN
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

`I FELT LIKE A PART OF ME DIED' THAT AUGUST DAY

I was born in Memphis, and I've always loved Elvis. When my grandmother, also a great Elvis fan, came to visit us one summer, she brought my sister and me little ribbon-tied bundles of grass that she had personally clipped from Elvis's front yard (before Graceland.)

His early appearances on TV were big events at my house, all the more fun because my parents joined in, disapproving, and because we all wondered if Elvis would be shown from the waist down.

We finally got to see Elvis when he came to the Roanoke Civic Center. But were far from the stage and high up, I'm not sure how much of Elvis we really saw.

We had tickets to the Aug. 24 concert when the news came that Elvis was dead. When he died, I felt like a part of me died.

We went to the civic center that day anyway to a memorial service for Elvis. On the dimly-lit stage was a solitary stool with a guitar propped up against it and Elvis' voice floating from the rafters.

by CNB