THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Monday, February 6, 1995               TAG: 9502060055
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY PAM STARR, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                     LENGTH: Medium:   88 lines

BELL TELLS 81-YEAR-OLD TO SQUINT AND BEAR IT MAN CONTINUES HIS CRUSADE FOR BIGGER TYPE IN PHONE BOOK.

Harry J. Luman scrunches down at his table and peers through a magnifying glass at the rows and rows of Smiths in the phone book.

``Look at this,'' he grumbles. ``How in the world would you find a certain Smith?''

The 81-year-old then flips through the blue pages of the Bell Atlantic directory, shaking his head.

``Look at the blue pages,'' he commands, pointing at the tiny type. ``It's even worse. A lot of people use them and can't find anything without a damn magnifying glass. I can't tell you how many times I called the wrong number.''

Squinting at the white pages is something Luman has performed two or three times a day for several years, complaining only to himself about the small type. In the last few months, however, the retired Army major has become quite activeabout trying to persuade Bell Atlantic to print another phone book in larger type.

Luman called Bell Atlantic a number of times, but says he got ``the run-around.'' To show the phone company how serious he was, Luman stood on Kempsville street corners five afternoons a week last September and gathered nearly 1,000 signatures. But Bell Atlantic still won't return his calls or answer his letters, he says.

``I could've gotten 3 or 4,000 more signatures if I put in more time,'' says Luman, lighting one of the 60 or so Merit cigarettes he smokes daily. ``Most people were real enthusiastic and came right over when I showed them the petition.''

The phone company is discriminating against the elderly and visually impaired, he believes. And another thing - the approximately 900 white pages aren't white, they're gray, which makes the names and numbers even harder to read, he says.

``Take the yellow pages,'' says Luman, grabbing the cumbersome book. ``Look at how large the type is. The advertisers want their names out there - they're paying for it.''

He's right about that, says Stephanie Hobbs, director of media relations for Bell Atlantic directory services. But the yellow pages also help support the cost of producing the white pages, she adds, and it would be too expensive to expand the format.

``I'm sorry he feels that way,'' she says. ``We've had complaints in the past that the book was too big and seniors couldn't handle it.''

Paul Miller, Bell Atlantic spokesman, says that enlarging the white pages would mean a tradeoff, because the phone company is trying to get more customers to recycle their old books.

``The last thing we want is to make it harder for the recycling effort,'' he says. ``We charge for directory assistance, but the visually disabled can get a waiver with proof from a doctor.

``As someone who has just gotten a pair of reading glasses, I can sympathize with him.''

Sympathy is not what Luman is looking for. He was sitting in front of a poster that read ``A good excuse is one you can use over and over,'' and laughs when it's pointed out.

``Wish we could send that to Bell Atlantic!'' says Luman, who has a John Wayne demeanor and describes himself as an ``old gunslinger from way back.''

``I'd even pay $5 more a year for the privilege of using the phone book. I'll bet there's 100,000 people in Bell Atlantic's constituency who would agree with me.''

Maury Bailey doesn't think so. He's a retired district manager of engineering for Bell Atlantic and a member of the Telephone Pioneers, a volunteer group of retired phone company employees.

``I think it would be too expensive to make another book,'' says Bailey. ``I guess you can always use a magnifying glass.''

You can, agrees Luman, but he doesn't think that a magnifying glass should be required to read the phone book.

``This puts me on the hot spot,'' he says. ``If no one else is interested, Bell Atlantic will say `I told you so.' I'm appealing to the people to call Bell Atlantic or write me for a petition.

``I want them to put out a better book. This seems to be a very simple mission.'' MEMO: To reach Luman, write him at 5629 Albright Drive, Virginia Beach 23464.

ILLUSTRATION: CHARLIE MEADS/Staff

Harry J. Luman, 81, of Virginia Beach says reading the phone book

through a magnifying glass leads many people to dial many wrong

numbers. He wants help from Bell Atlantic.

by CNB