Venice High Icon Should Be Restored

Re “Mystery of the Model,” Column One, Sept. 27: It has been 64 years since I first set eyes on Myrna, the white and lithe figure adorning the front walkway to Venice High School. I thought she was beautiful. Legend was that Myrna Loy had attended our school and had posed for the statue. Whether that was true, the “Myrna” came to represent our school. She was an icon, a way to say we were somehow connected to the aura of Hollywood success, and that we were proud of one of our own. After football games, our rivals doused her with paint, but she was quickly cleaned up and stood proudly again, her arms held up to the sky.

To see our dear statue lying broken and headless in a heap behind the school gardens was heart-wrenching. She deserves more. It’s time to restore her and return her to her former place in the sun.

Elliott Edelson

Granada Hills