Your “Alsop Ascendant” by Geoffrey C. Ward (“The Life and Times,” February/March) caused me to remember when CBS newsman Bill Downs and I were once stuck between floors in the elevator of No. 1 Shimbun Alee, the Tokyo Press Club. The Korean War was on, and in the elevator with us were Joe Alsop and a friend who were animatedly discussing a refurbished item of elegant furniture in Joe’s possession. Downs unwisely broke in on Joe’s verbalizing and said, “Hey, that sounds interesting. Where could I buy something like that?” Joe turned a withering look and said, “My boy, you don’t buy things like that. You inherit them.”