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

DATE: FRIDAY, February 10, 1995                   TAG: 9502100098
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

PRIVACY, NOT LAYOFF, WAS ISSUE

Edward Honaker served nearly 10 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. His fight to gain freedom made him a national figure.

But he learned this week that notoriety has its pros and cons.

Honaker told the Roanoke Times & World-News last week that he was laid off from his welding and maintenance job at Corrugated Container Corp. in Roanoke. The day the interview appeared in the newspaper, his former boss called to set the record straight.

Company President Dave Higginbotham said Honaker was not laid off.

"He was the best welder we ever had," he said.

According to Higginbotham, Honaker told them he had to go to Richmond to resolve some issues on his pardon, then said he had car trouble.

"We said come back when you get it cleared up," Higginbotham said. "But he never came back."

Honaker acknowledged Thursday, after returning from a taping of the Phil Donahue show, that he made the decision to leave his job.

He said his co-workers were talking behind his back about his rape conviction and subsequent pardon. He said he never expected the misrepresentation about how he left to become an issue.

"I didn't want to start anything within the company itself," Honaker said. "I didn't feel comfortable with people talking about me in an enclosed environment like that."

Higginbotham said he made it a point not to tell his employees about Honaker's background.

"I doubt if very many people knew who he was," he added. "And the people I know who work in that department would not say anything."