DATE: Sunday, May 11, 1997                  TAG: 9705090198

SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON   PAGE: 03   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: CLOSE-UP 

                                            LENGTH:   74 lines

ROB GRANT: AUTHOR AND PROFESSIONAL LECTURER

The hard-to-catch-up-with Rob Grant can sometimes be cornered for a brief conversation while dashing from home to office to lecture hall. With unbounding energy he attacks many projects at one time; author, lecturer, editor of Venture and New Millennium magazines and research and development coordinator at the Association for Research and Enlightenment.

One of Rob's many accomplishments was working with a team computerizing onto CD ROM the entire collection of Edgar Cayce readings and correspondence at the A.R.E. It was a five-year project.

Full name: Robert Joseph Grant.

Hometown: Bloomington, Ind.

What brought you to the Beach? Wanted to study at the A.R.E.-/-Edgar Cayce Foundation; joined the Navy in 1981.

Birthdate: June 5, 1961.

Occupation: Author (``Love and Roses from David'' and ``Are We Listening to the Angels''), professional lecturer and free-lance writer.

Nickname: Not suitable for publication unless accompanied by parent or guardian.

Marital status: Available for a limited time; Visa/Mastercard accepted. Prices may vary.

Children: Not.

What is your idea of a perfect day off? A walk alone on the beach at the North End to see the sunrise, quiet time in the A.R.E. meditation room, surfing the net, shopping for rare first-edition books at used bookstores, Boardwalk rollerblading and renting a movie.

Last smart thing you did: Spent five years with a team computerizing the entire collection of Edgar Cayce readings and correspondence.

Favorite meal: What is commonly known as the heart-attack-on-a-plate meal: T-bone steak (medium well to burnt); baked potato and sour cream, ``kitchen-sink'' salad (everything but anchovies) with bleu cheese; Honeybrown Beer.

Favorite movies: ``Resurrection,'' ``Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf,'' ``Short Cuts,'' ``Damage,'' ``The Living End,'' ``Last Temptation of Christ'' and anything directed by Robert Altman and John Waters.

Last book read: ``Delusions of Grandma'' by Carrie Fisher and ``Anne Sexton,'' a biography by Diane Middlebrook.

Hobbies: Photography, journaling, calligraphy, Internet, publishing my experimental essays under a pseudonym, collecting first-edition books and working full time on occasion. Also, music (going to concerts, collecting, etc. - everything from Vivaldi to Nine Inch Nails).

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? Shut off that persistent ``voice of insecurity'' in my head that says, ``You can't-/-You won't-/-You'll fail . . .''

Secret vice: Books by Stephen King; bad movies.

Favorite restaurant: Pasta and Pani

Your favorite night on the town: Dinner for two, The Boathouse for a concert or The Naro for the latest film noir, playing pool at a no-jacket-required jukebox joint with friends; chasing the night with friends at after-hours dance spot.

Favorite TV shows: ``Absolutely Fabulous,'' ``MTV Unplugged,'' ``VH1 Crossroads'' and A&E ``Biography.''

Favorite sport: Dating in the '90s.

Last vacation: 14 days in Italy.

Pets: Two cats - Sam, a cinnamon tabby with the personality of a Lab; Hunter Lestat, a 13-pound tiger striped tom who is currently AWOL and sorely missed.

Worst job: Broadcasting TV news on the day-to-day aftermath of a truck bomb that killed 243 Marines in Lebanon during Beirut crisis.

Of what achievements are you most proud? Being part of the group who started the AIDS support network in the mid-1980s and chronicling those years in my first book, ``Love and Roses from David.''

What would you like as your epitaph? ``We'll be back with more . . . right after this brief intermission . . .'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by DAVID B. HOLLINGSWORTH

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