Wrong Kind of Breakfast Toast?

Roger Hardy of Big Bear informed me that the newsletter of a Southland veterans group contained a typo that made a coming event sound more raucous than it probably will be. The newsletter said: “The meeting will be gin with breakfast.”

At ease!

JUST MOVED IN FROM HOLLYWOOD? Like anyone else looking for customers, adult schools try to print eye-catching catalogs advertising unique classes and guests. Roberta Greenwood of Pacific Palisades wonders if the Culver City Adult School was aware of the double meaning of a heading for one cooking class:

“Professional Looking Tarts.”

MIKE AND MERV: Longtime TV talk show host Mike Douglas was often mistaken for rival yakker Merv Griffin (see photos).

In his new book, “I’ll Be Right Back,” Douglas recalls that one of the weirdest examples of fan confusion occurred in the Beverly Hills Hotel.

A woman “saw me and exclaimed, with arms open wide, ‘Merv, darling, it’s wonderful to see you,’ ” Douglas writes.

“She gave me a big hug and asked what I’d been doing. I had seen her before but I couldn’t come up with a name. She was so genuinely concerned and ingratiating, I couldn’t help but spend several minutes exchanging pleasantries. Then, with a kiss on the cheek, she was gone. Never asked for an autograph.”

Douglas writes that he realized who it was a few moments later:

“The elegant woman who had mistaken me for Merv was Merv Griffin’s former wife, Jewel Anne.”

SPEAKING OF CONFUSION: Ray Woods of Bell sent me some tickets for a television preview in Anaheim, with the explanation:

“I thought I’d pass these ducats to you so you can better your TV ratings. Being in the high 90s in the rankings is nothing to brag about.”

You’re right about that, Ray. But I really couldn’t brag about it if the WB network’s “Steve Harvey Show” were ranked in the top 10.

It’s a different Steve Harvey. I gotta admit, though, I wish he’d move up in the ratings. I’m always pleased to accept misdirected compliments. Even when someone praises me for a column that The Times’ Randy Harvey wrote, I gladly say thank you.

ON THE ROAD: While visiting England, Dan Smith of Westminster found a hotel with a unique approach to unauthorized vehicles (see photo). Added Smith: “The Grapevine Hotel doesn’t have a parking problem, since the nearest filling station is about 12 kilometers down the road.”

PICKY, PICKY: David Beranek of Long Beach came across an ad that said: “CAR NEEDED. Must run, drive and stop, with title.”

miscelLAny:

David Lindell points out that the transmitter for KUSC-FM, the station at the University of Southern California, is on Mt. Harvard.

At least it’s not on Mt. Bruin.

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Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LATIMES, Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, Times Mirror Square, L.A. 90053 and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com. Sorry, I can’t answer all my mail.