Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 24, 1994 TAG: 9407250063
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
PORTLAND, Ore. - A 405-pound man is suing Denny's for $1.3 million, claiming restaurant workers made him feel like ``a clown on parade.''
Gary A. Sellick, 36, also claims that he couldn't fit into a booth and the restaurant was unable to provide a chair big enough to hold him when he tried to eat there June 8.
``People began turning around and looking at me and snickering,'' Sellick said. ``I'm disabled. Do you think they'd laugh at a blind person or a person with one leg? Do they think I chose to be heavy?''
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, says the experience caused Sellick emotional distress.
Lawyers at Flagstar Cos. Inc., the Spartanburg, S.C.-based company that owns the 1,500-restaurant Denny's chain, hadn't had a chance to review the allegations, spokeswoman Karen Randall said.
``We want everyone to feel welcome at Denny's,'' Randall said.
- Associated Press\ Asteroid named after Frank Zappa
PHOENIX - Many thought Frank Zappa's music was from another planet. Now one's been picked out for him.
Besieged by letters and E-mail, a Cambridge, Mass., astronomy organization has named an asteroid that orbits between Mars and Jupiter ``Zappafrank'' after the late musician.
``I don't recall a lobby quite as extensive as this one,'' said Brian G. Marsden, director of the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planets Center.
Zappa died in December at age 52 after battling prostate cancer for two years.
- Associated Press
by CNB