Touched by a striking couple

THANK you for the lovely article and photos about the Silver Lake home of Anais Nin and Rupert Pole [“Storied Past, Uncertain Future,” Sept. 7]. They brought back memories from 1974 when I was a starving, 22-year-old student in Paris. That spring, Anais gave a reading at Shakespeare & Co. I was so overwhelmed by her aura that I sat in the back of the bookstore all evening as she read and signed books, never daring to approach her. When she and Rupert finally left -- around 10 p.m. -- I raced out of the bookstore and up the sidewalk in front of Notre Dame, where I timidly introduced myself. She took my hand in hers and asked me about my studies in France. She then gave me her home phone and address and invited me to visit her and Rupert when I returned to the States. Sadly, shortly after my return she passed away and I never got to visit them. I will never forget her soft voice and eyes and the way she held my hand. I hope that in some way their home can be preserved, for it means so much to those she met and to those she touched through her writing.

STEVEN FORRY

Irvine

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I was a student of Mr. Pole’s at Thomas Starr King Junior High in the early ‘60s. He was one of two of the most influential and important teachers in my life.

Mr. Pole gave a very short, quiet and shy little boy confidence in himself to make decisions. I was in his science classes and also in a school period that was called “Projection Crew.” We showed 16-millimeter movies that the teachers wanted in various classes during the period.

Mr. Pole, being very tall, was a very fast walker, and I struggled to keep up with him with my short legs. Consequently, I also became a fast walker and still am to the sometimes irritation of my wife.

After I graduated, I would visit the campus from time to time to see him. I lost contact with Mr. Pole and often wondered how he was. I am very sorry to read that he passed away in July.

PAUL LIU

Glendale

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I knew Mr. Pole as an eighth-grade science teacher when I attended King Junior High School in L.A. from 1960 to 1963. (Just celebrated my 40th John Marshall High School reunion.) I remember this tanned, handsome man driving by my house in his cute, little T-Bird each morning on his way to school. I come to find out now that we were neighbors as I, also, lived in Silver Lake. What a fascinating, “other” life he led beyond that of the four walls of a classroom. If I knew then what I know now.

GAIL ROSS MARCHI

San Francisco