Lesson 1: Burton would always be welcomed back

I had to laugh when I read Tim Burton’s recollections of growing up in Burbank [“His Old Haunts,” Oct. 26]. The article evoked my own childhood feelings of place; my “Burbank” is Sacramento, and I have vowed never to spend another night there. Boy, do I know what he is talking about!

I didn’t grow up in Burbank, but I have lived here since I married 26 years ago.

One of the fun things I used to do when walking my infant daughter around Burbank was to visit Burton’s mom’s cat store on Magnolia Boulevard. The store was one of the interesting and idiosyncratic places that Burbank had to offer at the time.

I now work at Luther Burbank Middle School and want you to know, although you might not have been able to tell on a Sunday, the school is under construction, hence the caution tape and surveillance. I assure you that Burton would have felt more than welcome had he visited on a weekday. Kids are very sophisticated these days, and he probably would have gotten a hero’s reception, although nothing could erase his 11-year-old’s dread.

I do love our school, and after all the construction madness it should be even nicer. I hate to have people think it’s like a concentration camp, although I know what it’s like to see things through the emotional haze of youth.

DANA COBERN-KULLMAN

Burbank