Missing hero

SIR — It was fascinating to read in the Herts Advertiser of September 24 George Atkinson s extensive list of famous people associated with St Albans. But there is one glaring omission. The legendary, Duke Ellington-inspired, jazz pianist Stan Tracey, som

SIR - It was fascinating to read in the Herts Advertiser of September 24 George Atkinson's extensive list of famous people associated with St Albans. But there is one glaring omission.

The legendary, Duke Ellington-inspired, jazz pianist Stan Tracey, sometimes nicknamed The Godfather of British jazz, has lived quietly and anonymously in the city for more than a decade.

Co-incidentally, as detailed in this paper last week, he will be appearing rather more noisily at 8pm on Saturday 10 October 2009 at the Maltings Arts Theatre, St Albans. Tickets, price �16, are selling fast.

Yes, the Maltings Arts Theatre, that central, intimate venue which plays host to small-scale professional theatre and music performances, numerous children's events, and, as its latest offering, classic film.

It's available for local community booking as well.

To suggest that we don't need this friendly and valuable space, as one Harpenden resident did in your pages last week, is, to put it mildly, short-sighted.

By all means let it include cinema for all in its programme, but to wipe out its other creative activities would be retrograde and destructive.

Some day, in 20 or 30 years time, who knows, the City Vision may provide us with a better space in a better position. But for the meantime, we should cherish and support the Maltings Arts Theatre, not declare it redundant.

MARION HAMMANT

West View Road, St Albans