A Sense of Place

Sam Hall Kaplan’s tasteful article (“Sensitivity Needed to Retain Fairfax Area’s Sense of Place,” Dec. 17) surely contained the sensitivity needed to truly understand and appreciate the “true” uniqueness of the Fairfax District, and ironically I read it between spoonfuls of my matzo ball soup at Canter’s.

Having spent much of my youth in the area, I recall much of its historical past, beginning with Fairfax High. “Sandwiched” between the many attorneys, doctors, dentists, accountants and other “achievers,” this particular high school can boast such famed alumni as Ricardo Montalban, Mickey Rooney, Alan Sherman, David Janssen, Herb Alpert and Phil Spector.

Sadly, one of my favorite landmarks, the silent movie theater, has been closed for years and may never reopen, but even sadder to me was the (1967) closing of Billy Gray’s Band Box after 25 years, where my late father was maitre d’. In fact, the Band Box truly made Fairfax Avenue even more famous with its hilarious satire, “My Fairfax Lady,” which enjoyed a five-year run.

In the Southland’s rush to erect more mini-malls, high-rises and condominiums, I hope the city’s Planning Department remembers there’s only one Fairfax Avenue, where one can feel the atmosphere of New York, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East by merely taking a stroll.

EDDIE CRESS

Los Angeles