JEAN ANOUILH

Thanks to Sylvie Drake for her warm homage to the late French playwright Jean Anouilh (“Anouilh’s Plays: A Waltz With Tragedy,” Oct. 7).

I grew up in France and experienced very closely what Drake described of her youthful adulation. I used to think of him as a close, intimate friend with whom I shared this witty and biting (but not bitter) view of the human condition.

Il etait l’homme d’esprit que je voulais etre. (He was the wit I hoped to be.)

Drake and I are both older (much) but we still love him.

MARC WIESENFELD

Marina del Rey