Michael York Barges In

I was bemused to read yet again in Elaine Dutka’s piece about LACMA’s Institute for Art & Cultures the charming, but totally fictitious, report that I had held up a poster on which my name was scribbled in order to gain entrance to the oversubscribed lecture by my friend R.B. Kitaj (“Where the Intelligentsia Now Meet,” April 29).

I had, in fact, been personally invited to the event by institute head Paul Holdengraber but, in view of the mob scene, a persistent streak of British reticence prevented me from barging my way past the fierce and inflexible guards of the cultural temple. My keen disappointment was assuaged with Keats’ dictum that “Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter.”

I would, however, like to take this opportunity to barge into your columns by drawing attention to the fact that the California Youth Theatre, of which I am proud to be chairman, has at last found a home at the New Ivar Theatre. In another cross-cultural exchange, it has been refurbished largely due to the largess of Pierre Cardin, who is now presenting his Paris-imported musical, “Le Manege.”

I have no inhibitions about holding up a poster advertising the addition of this invaluable asset to the cultural life of our city, and I urge everyone to mob this worthy cause.

MICHAEL YORK

Los Angeles