Singer Earns Grand Ole Opry Appearance Step by Step

--When David Stewart said he wanted to sing on the Grand Ole Opry, the response was a polite equivalent of “Take a walk.� And that’s what he did--1,500 miles from his home in Gillette, Wyo., to Nashville. After his arrival, Opry general manager Hal Durham called him with an invitation to sing on the live show. “I just about fell out of my chair,� Stewart said. Before Stewart hit the road, Opry officials had said that their performers are normally veterans or nationally known artists, and suggested that he audition for “You Can Be a Star,� a Nashville Network show that sponsors a competition for performers. The would-be warbler, on leave from managing a fast-food restaurant, took along his dog Snicker and slept in hotels or a motor home in which promoter Floyd Haynes followed him. Stewart, 37, wore out three pairs of athletic shoes on the trek, which began April 30 and took him across Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee, through everything from a snowstorm to “105 or 106 degrees,� he said.

--Joe DiMaggio was released from Mt. Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach after successful elective surgery to repair an abdominal aortic aneurysm. The “Yankee Clipper� had entered the hospital July 11, and doctors said the aneurysm--a weakened, ballooned spot in the abdominal wall--could have caused excessive bleeding if it had ruptured. DiMaggio, 73, was pronounced in excellent condition. DiMaggio, who played on 10 World Series champion teams with the New York Yankees, still holds a record of hitting safely in 56 consecutive games. The one-time husband of Marilyn Monroe was voted baseball’s greatest living player in 1969.

--Brig. Gen. Gail Reals--the Marines’ only woman general and its first female base commander--says women are not ready to be included in battle because “they’re not trained for combat.� At her first news conference since taking over at Quantico, Va., Reals said: “It’s a readiness issue, not an equal opportunity issue.� She did not comment on why combat training is not given to women. “Women have plenty of things to contribute short of combat,� said the 52-year-old Marine, who joined in 1954 as a stenographer. She said her position as a commander of more than 1,500 Marines is administrative, with duties ranging from making sure the grass is cut to overseeing security.