To the Editor:

Stuart Mitchner’s evocative piece in Town Topics on June 5,  [“Light and Dark: Themes and Anthems for a European Tour”] really resonated with me. I was in Vienna in January 1955, when it was almost as ravaged as in The Third Man and utterly defined bleakness. Russian troops were all over the place, interesting to talk to. Then, when I was in the Army (1957-1958 in the Counter Intelligence Corps — contradiction in terms, one sergeant confirmed) in Nürnberg, in May 1958, my wife and I took ten days of leave on the beach in Rimini on the Adriatic. We heard nothing but “Volare” there and, though our 10 days were great, the song almost drove us out of our minds. Then, in 1976 we ordered a Plymouth Volare, which would have been our only American car in 55 years, but the order was delayed and we went for a Toyota wagon. Great luck, since the Volare turned out to be a total lemon.

Charles E. Townsend

Hickory Court