Dean Martin

Re “Dean Martin, Screen Star and Singer, Dies at 78,” Dec. 26:

All the obituaries on Dean Martin have described him in private life as a loner, reclusive, remote. But that’s not the way I remember him.

Several years ago, after dinner at a family-type pizzeria on Pacific Coast Highway, my 7-year-old daughter, Tracey, asked me for some coins to play the video games along the wall. I said I was sorry but I hadn’t brought along any cash, when I suddenly heard someone behind me saying, “I got some.”

Sitting at a nearby table, it was Martin, who had undoubtedly seen the disappointment on my child’s face. Tan, casually but elegantly dressed, he reached into his pocket and produced a fistful of change. “Take it all,” he offered with a shrug, as if to say, hey, it’s no big deal.

Later, on the drive home, Tracey asked, “Who was the nice man?”

“That was Dean Martin,” I said, “He’s a terrific entertainer.”

“Do you know him?” she asked,

“Everybody knows Dino,” I said.

AL RAMRUS

Pacific Palisades

* Ten years ago I was a member of a support staff working for Martin. I am sure that I speak for my co-workers when I say that he was one of the most-liked entertainers. He always had something funny to say each day.

But humor was also a quality of his that was used to convey something more fundamental: communicating to those around him a sense of their worth. There were no “little people” as far as he was concerned.

Goodbye, Dean.

FRANK R. BURTON

Santa Monica