Identity crisis: Roger Crombie's runaround with the Bermuda Telephone Company (The Bermuda Factor, RG No.7) struck a chord with reader Barbara Neish last month.

Like Roger, Barbara has to put up with people getting her name wrong most of the time and to prove the point, sent us a copy of more than 50 clangers she has collected over the years from letters, faxes and messages.

Barbara, who is reservations manager at the Stonington Beach Hotel, has been called Neesh, Nees, Naish, Nietz, Neigh, Kneish, Niche, Netsh, Nish, Neishi, Niece, McKneish, Nrish, Heish, Meish, Reich, Weist and Welsh. One correspondent even addressed her as `Barbara Nisch Stonington'! "It's amazing what people can do with five letters,'' laughs Barbara. "Every time I get a new one I stick it on the list. I'm always happy when I find one more!'' Helping hands: Fair Havens, Bermuda's first drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre for women, featured in RG No.4, got a welcome helping hand shortly after its recent opening from counsellors Adela Ruberry and Venous Telford.

Ruberry, from the Employee Assistance Programme, and Telford, who is studying law in England, spent six weeks at the Victoria Street property as part of their masters degrees in counselling from Indiana University. It was not only valuable education for Ruberry and Telford but much-needed help for Fair Havens which has one full-time counsellor in training (Deana Douglas) and hopes to have another on board shortly. "They've been quite a help because this was a start up programme,'' says Gloria Mills, executive director of Fair Havens. "They've come up with a lot of good ideas and are extremely creative.

They've been a tremendous asset and we'll be sorry to lose them.'' Ruberry says: "It was a very positive, meaningful experience and we gained a lot from working with Gloria. She's very positive and committed to what she is doing.

It was a really exciting time to be there and I hope to continue in a voluntary capacity.'' New position: Bermuda soccer striker Kyle Lightbourne, who was released along with 10 other players by English club Scarborough last season (RG No.3), has found a new club. Lightbourne has now joined Third Division club Walsall on a one-year contract after impressing manager Kenny Hibbitt, the former Wolves winger, with his performances in pre-season friendlies. At press time he was waiting on confirmation of his work permit while Bermuda skipper Meshach Wade, also on trial at the Midlands club, is waiting to hear if he too will be offered a contract.

Seeking asylum: Stifled by the Island's anti-gay laws, many Bermudian gays find life far more comfortable in more liberal American and European communities (RG No.2). They are not the only ones and in July, the US for the first time granted asylum to a persecuted gay man. Marcelo Tenorio had fled illegally to the US after being stabbed and beaten outside a disco in his native Brazil but was allowed to remain in the US following a ruling by Judge Philip Leadbetter that, under United Nations requirements, he was eligible for asylum based on fear of persecution for belonging to a particular social group. The US now joins eight other nations, including Australia, Canada and Germany, in interpreting the United Nations term "social group'' to include persecuted sexual minorities. In Bermuda, the homosexual act still remains illegal. Any repeal is unlikely until after an election, expected to be called later this year.

Back pages: Readers who have missed previous issues of RG Magazine will be glad to know that back copies are now available from the Circulation Department at our office on Par-La-Ville Road, Hamilton, priced $2.00. But don't ask us for a copy of the June men's swimwear issue (RG No.6) - it has completely sold out! Following several inquires from exiled Bermudians and visitors to the Island, we will shortly be offering gift subscriptions to overseas readers. In the meantime, subscription inquiries should be addressed to Circulation Manager delMonte Davis.

SEPTEMBER 1993 RG MAGAZINE