It’s probably because college didn’t come easily to me that I’m fascinated with men and women who have succeeded without much postsecondary education.

One of my Portland State University chums never got his degree, but he’s been one of the most creative business minds I’ve known.

More recently, I was surprised to read that the man who has brought so much creativity and energy to the Metropolitan Opera, Peter Gelb, spent scant time in the college classroom.

The New Yorker’s profile of Gelb revealed that he started in the mailroom of Sol Hurok, who was one of the great impresarios of the late 20th century. Gelb had grown up with the advantage of a father who was in the editorial hierarchy at The New York Times. He grew up going to all the Broadway shows he wanted. Through that experience, Gelb acquired an intuition about public relations and the power of marketing in the performing arts.

After working for a few years, Gelb pleased his parents by enrolling at Yale. After a semester, he left. By dint of bravado Gelb subsequently became the principal representative of the legendary and difficult pianist Vladimir Horowitz.

The New Yorker described how Gelb projected the Met’s opening night performance on to giant television screens outside the opera house and at Times Square. When Andy Warhol met Salvador Dali, he found his role model.After the curtain calls, Gelb had the principal singers appear on the balcony above Lincoln Center Plaza, to the delight ot the outdoor audience. Said one observer, “It was a gimmick worthy of P.T. Barnum.”

Now I should add a disclaimer to all of this. A college education is important. But the most important learning is what you do after you’ve got the degree, not only out here in the graduate school of life, but also in libraries, movie theaters, at the horse track and the concert hall.

While in Los Angeles last week, my wife and I took in two collections: the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Huntington Library. At the former, we saw a large exhibition devoted to the surrealist and eccentric Salvador Dali. I’ve long found Dali’s iconic and symbolic works fascinating, though I had never cared to probe beneath the surface. This exhibition did probe. It also showed movies which Dali made in collaboration with Luis Bunuel, Alfred Hitchcock and Walt Disney.

The most revealing portion of the multiroom show was in the last chamber, which explored Dali’s collaboration with Andy Warhol. The two were inveterate exhibitionists and poseurs. Warhol said when he met Dali the light went on. He had found a role model.

The Huntington Library is a vast institution set on vast grounds in Pasadena. Like J.P. Morgan, Henry Huntington was a collector of books, manuscripts and art. After the collection outgrew his home, he built a library nearby. If people know anything of the Huntington, it’s that it holds the paintings known as The Blue Boy and Pinkie.

The Huntington’s galleries are beautifully proportioned and lit. We had the good fortune to see an exhibition of prints that was underwritten by the comedian Steve Martin. These prints were by a broad array of artists from George Bellows, Edward Hopper, Thomas Hart Benton and many others. It is one of those exhibits in which the exquisite nature of each work cries for your attention.

George Clooney’s movie Michael Clayton is worth the price of admission. This movie mystery thriller conjures a level of suspense without hitting you over the head. The character development is magnificent.

– S.A.F.