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"Morganna the Kissing Bandit," an Ohio woman who spent more than two
decades running onto big-league fields and kissing unsuspecting
ballplayers, including George Brett during the 1979 All-Star Game in
the Kingdome, is retired and turning down all interview requests these
days.
After mentioning that the P-I story made her sound more
interesting than she really is, Morganna explained her reluctance to
deal with reporters these days. Earlier, she had turned down interview
requests from Sports Illustrated and Playboy.
"I'm going to tell you something that I'm not telling
anybody else,
because nobody has heard from me since Dec. 12, 1999," she said. "I
just got sick of talking about myself and always being the center of
attention. I loved it for the period of time I did it, don't get me
wrong. "But I just decided to quit being the Kissing Bandit on January
1st of the year 2000. I didn't pick up any new contracts that would
take me past Dec. 12.
"For anybody who called and wanted me just for the
weekend or whatever, I had to say, Sorry, Morganna has left the
building".
That
doesn't mean she has gone completely underground. After reading a P-I
profile of herself one morning, Morganna Roberts Cottrell left a
message at a local newspaper the next day, offering a few insights to
her current existence. She still keeps strange hours -- the call came
in at 4 a.m., Seattle time. She identified herself by saying, "This is
Morganna, formerly the Kissing Bandit, which is sort of like being
formerly known as "Prince".
Doubling as an exotic dancer when she wasn't being an
outlandish
baseball fan, Morganna offered no regrets over her kissing exploits,
which took her to nearly every big-league ballpark, including the
Kingdome a second time in 1986. "I had a great time," she said. "All
the fans were wonderful. All the players were wonderful. The road was
wonderful. But I had just had enough." Now 47, she lives with her
husband, Bill Cottrell, and three dogs in the suburbs of Columbus,
Ohio. She has a big house, complete with a creek and running trail.
"I'm living my dream life", she said.
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