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

DATE: THURSDAY, March 15, 1990                   TAG: 9003152376
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: E-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

PEOPLE

Zachary Hoover, 10, a fifth-grader at Brentwood Elementary, wrote to Leno, well known as a substitute host on "The Tonight Show," with some questions.

"It was pretty amazing," said Zachary's mother, Janet Hoover. "When you think that a kid admires someone famous and that person takes an interest in the kid. Zach's bouncing off the walls, he's so excited."

The family met Leno at Indianapolis International Airport March 2 as the comedian passed through the city on the way to a show in Fort Wayne.

A spokesman for Leno in Los Angeles says the comedian "does this sort of thing all the time. He and his special assistant go through his fan mail and if there's a request that touches him in some way he will call. That's Jay's style."

Tom Cruise, who got stopped for speeding while in Darlington, S.C., to film a movie on car racing, was allowed to plead guilty to a lesser charge and pay a decreased fine.

City officials even discussed dropping the charge against the 27-year-old actor, but decided not to in fear of adverse publicity, Mayor Ronnie Ward said.

Cruise was charged with driving 66 mph in a 35 mph zone on March 2. He could have paid as much as $237 in fines and fees and had six points lodged against his South Carolina driving record.

Instead, he paid a $125 fine Monday after City Judge Dan Causey reduced the charge to careless operation of a vehicle, which carries no point penalty.

Joan Quigley, the astrologer whose advice to Nancy Reagan reportedly set the president's schedule, says she's finished with the Reagans.

"When you're that friendly with someone and they just cut you off, it borders on the incredible," Quigley said.

The title of Quigley's new book, "What Does Joan Say?" is what Ronald Reagan is said to have asked his wife after her telephone consultations with the astrologer during the Reagans' White House years.

The disclosure that Nancy Reagan consulted an astrologer made the Reagans the butt of jokes.

Why did Quigley write the autobiography and blast her former clients?

"I felt I had played an important role in the administration," she said. "I had to stand up for reputable astrologers."