MALE OR FEMALE?
SIR,—Here in darkest Timmins, on the same parallel as Paris (France) but beyond the Arctic watershed and at present enjoying a warmer spell (luxuriating in —25° F. instead of —40°), one of the few delights of life left is to read Leslie Adrian on (among other things) Foreign Travel, and the esoteric excellencies of That Little Auberge not so far from St. Jean-de- Luz, where the rates are remarkable, the food French, and the wine of the house quite amazing when you think about it. And so on.
What causes a slight moue, a grimace of uncer- tainty, is that here—so far out of touch with the heart of hedonism, the centre of gastronomy—we have no means of knowing, or of finding out, Leslie Adrian's sex.
I know this must be a touchy word in England these days, with Bournemouth apparently the country's political centre, but the fact remains that enjoyment of 'Consuming Interest' was (for me anyway) much enhanced. by the understanding that Leslie Adrian was a woman; and judging.from her writing (not to men- tion the length of her expense account) an eminently meetable one at that.
And then what happens? Mr. 0. R. C. Prior writes from Rugby, that seat of culture, and refers to 'Mr. Leslie Adrian". being 'wide of the mark' about the British Railways Car Ferries Service.
If, it was anyone else but Mr. Prior, I would say he was wide of the mark himself in attributing to Leslie Adrian certain biological niceties that I have felt immoderately certain she does not possess.
But I happen to know Mr. Prior, respect his judg- ment, and feel him incapable of human error. Can it be. then, that the error is mine?
It is an uneasy position to find yourself in. For I know myself even better than Mr. Prior, and regard even more highly in me those qualities I esteem in him.
SO what, sir, is the answer? Only one solution will really pacify me now: that Leslie Adrian is a man- and-wife team.--Yours faithfully,
DAVID .0. COBB The Daily Press, Thomson Building, TIMMill.V.
Ontario
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