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

DATE: TUESDAY, August 10, 1993                   TAG: 9308100182
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

PEOPLE

"It was hell, and I'll never do it again," Reid said Monday. "I'm going home, putting on my pajamas, drink a beer and take a long, long nap."

Reid, a 24-year-old swimming coach from North East, swam from Long Point, Ontario, to North East in just under 17 hours. The distance from the two points is about 21 miles, but Reid estimates she swam at least 24 miles, said her brother, Clint.

Without even resorting to the dreaded Sledge-O-Matic, comedian Gallagher won a jury trial last week in Santa Ana, Calif., successfully defending himself and his stuffed penguin in a personal injury lawsuit filed by a fan. Robin Vann, 29, had accused the wacky comedian of beaning her with his stuffed penguin, a stage prop containing a fire extinguisher, at a September 1990 show in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. She was seeking more than $100,000 in damages.

Gallagher testified that he was using the penguin to dodge Silly String blasts from the audience when he lost his grip and the penguin went flying.

John F. Kennedy Jr., finally responding to all those rumors dogging him and Daryl Hannah, told reporters in the Philippines on Saturday, "We're not married, just friends." The lawyer and the actress, a paparazzi magnet even in the South Pacific, spent last week scuba diving in Palau, then jetted into Hong Kong.

Scratch the main Maniac from 10,000 Maniacs. Singer-songwriter Natalie Merchant has quit the band after 12 years. No word on the rest of the Maniacs, but expect Merchant to solo.