Long-distance information isn't very helpful. First, the operator will insist on knowing what city he lives in, which is a tall order if you don't even know the state. Second, the phone company charges 75 cents for every inquiry. At least mine does. Third, telephone companies are getting evasive or downright cranky about giving out mailing addresses.
Callers sometimes have to resort to ruses to get an address.
Many people are solving this problem by buying the nation's telephone directories on compact discs. If you have an Internet connection just jump on the World Wide Web and go to Switchboard. You can speed the search if you know the city or state. But Switchboard doesn't care if you don't know whether Uncle Bob is living in Hawaii, Florida or Maine. Just put in the name, wait a few seconds and Switchboard will give you a list of possibilities.