DATE: Sunday, September 14, 1997            TAG: 9709120193

SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON   PAGE: 09   EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:   74 lines

FYI

Richard Farrant, 21, was in town this week to rest up from a grueling, self-scheduled world tour that began in late July in his native England.

If all goes according to plan, the young Brit will cross the United States by Amtrak and fly to Southeast Asia, then down under to Australia before heading back home.

What makes Farrant's trip more difficult and more challenging is the fact that he is wheelchair bound as the result of the advancing effects of a disease that effects the nervous system. It is known as Freidrich's ataxia, a hereditary affliction that gets progressively worse with age.

Farrant decided after graduating from De Montford University in Milton Keynes with a specialty in business and accounting, that he needed to see a bit more of the world than his home town of Leicester, a south-central English city nearly 100 miles north and west of London.

So, he set off on a solo trip to the United States in in 1996, just to try his wings. He liked the experience so much he decided to try it again the following year. This time he decided expand his horizons to global proportions.

So he did, arriving in the U.S. in July and - armed with an Amtrak pass - rode the rails to Boston, Niagara Falls, Buffalo, Washington, D.C. , New York City, Philadelphia, Memphis, New Orleans and Atlanta.

Memphis was a ``dump,'' Farrant says, except for Graceland, and the people of New Orleans made up for any shortcomings the city may have otherwise.

How did he get to Virginia Beach? By reading books on hostels, especially those that are friendly to wheelchair users.

Why did he come? ``I came here to relax before I head back to New York,'' he said.

Farrant arrived in Virginia Beach Sept. 5, spent four days at Angie's Guest Cottage at 24th Street and Pacific Avenue, then zipped off to the Big Apple to catch a Broadway production, the David Letterman Show and take a tour through Central Park - probably in a horse drawn carriage. Next stop San Diego, L.A. and San Francisco, Hawaii and westward.

Farrant wants to return to the United States permanently. He wants to get a job, settle down, become a citizen. ``I fell in love with it here,'' he said.

The most important step in remaining in the states permanently is a job, said Farrant, who has had experience in business, finance and public relations in the United Kingdom. And, he says, ``I'm computer literate.''

He has a resume and will fax. Prospective employers who feel they could use a determined globe trotter with a nose for business are asked to leave a message in his voice mail, 800-870-9204. His mail box is 0079-0079. Return to Pleasant Hall

Family and friends said goodbye to Princess Anne County native Robert E. Whitehead Jr. last week at a funeral service in historic Pleasant Hall, the place where Whitehead was born 81 years ago.

Pleasant Hall on Princess Anne Road in Kempsville was built by George Logan in the 1760s. The beautiful brick home on both the state and national historic registers is perhaps best known as the site of Lord Dunmore's headquarters in the Revolutionary War.

Dunmore moved in following the skirmish of Kempsville in 1775 when the British routed local colonial minute men.

After a succession of owners, Whitehead's father, Dr. Robert E. Whitehead, purchased the historic 18th century home on Princess Anne Road in Kempsville at the turn of the century. It remained in the family until the younger Whitehead sold it in the early 1980s.

Today Pleasant Hall has been restored and reincarnated as Kellum Funeral Home's Pleasant Hall/Kempsville Chapel. Whitehead passed away Aug. 29 and his funeral service was held Sept. 6 in the old home place. MEMO: FYI items were compiled by staff writer Bill Reed and Mary Reid

Barrow. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

Armed with an Amtrak pass, Richard Farrand has toured the United

States.

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