Postal Clerk Claims $14.8-Million Lottery Prize : North Hollywood: The numbers came up for Robert Reed, 45, who always used birth dates. He plans to retire.

Robert Reed had an easy time remembering what numbers to pick in the California lottery; he always played his and his wife’s birth dates.

And with those numbers, the 45-year-old postal clerk who lives in North Hollywood won $14.8 million last weekend, lottery officials said Tuesday.

Reed, who claimed his prize Monday after reading the winning numbers in a newspaper, bought his winning ticket at a market in San Ysidro, on the Mexican border just south of San Diego, lottery spokeswoman Cynthia Moore said.

Reed told lottery officials he did not want to be interviewed.

But he said he plans to retire, although his wife will continue to work as a legal secretary, Moore said.

They also plan to travel, buy real estate and send their four sons to college, Moore said.

Since the lottery began in 1985, it has become more and more common for winners to avoid publicity as the Reeds did, although lottery officials would like as much publicity as possible to promote the game, Moore said.

“We want to put a face on the winner,” she said.

“Most of these people don’t want their name in the newspaper because they don’t want to be harassed,” Moore said. “A lot of people are afraid of public speaking, and they see this as a public speaking thing.”

Reed will receive $592,000 a year for the next 20 years after federal tax withholding of 20%, she said.

Although Lotto winnings are exempt from state taxes, Reed will still be required to pay federal taxes, which are likely to exceed the amount withheld, Moore said.

The current top federal income tax rate is 31%.