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

DATE: MONDAY, March 21, 1994                   TAG: 9403210003
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: EXTRA-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

PEOPLE COLUMN

Bill Watterson, the reclusive creator of "Calvin and Hobbes" is taking the rest of the year off, done in by deadline pressure.

Since 1986, Watterson has chronicled the comic strip antics of a little boy with a huge imagination and his stuffed toy tiger, who comes to life in the child's mind.

"The creative and deadline requirements . . . are considerable, and Bill, who works without benefit of any staff, assistants or regular vacations, will be taking a time out," John McMeel, president of Universal Press Syndicate, said Saturday.

His leave begins April 3 and ends Dec. 31.

\ Fighting multiple sclerosis hasn't dulled comedian Richard Pryor's sharp sense of humor.

In St. Joseph, Mo., for a gathering to teach multiple sclerosis patients how to live better, Pryor joked Saturday about a doctor's idea that he start changing TV channels by hand as a step toward exercise.

"Damn, I wish he wouldn't have said that," Pryor said. "I'm going to have my significant other hide the clicker. But I love to click those channels. And before I murder her, I'll say, `Hey look, I don't want to go to the penitentiary. So where's my clicker?' "

by CNB