In this week's "Executive Pursuits" Times biz column, 55-year-old Harry Hurt III becomes a ballerina. His teacher? "Sex and the City"-scribe Candace Bushnell's husband, for some reason! And apparently, a lot of people—a lot of famous, important people—made fun of the Hurtmeister when he told them he was going to learn ballet for his latest stunt.

"Many of my tormenters were ignorant homophobes who made crude jokes about my being a 'sissy.'" But the "most galling remarks had come from some highly accomplished people I thought ought to know better," he writes.

Who are these highly accomplished jerks? Harry won't say. All we know is this: one of them is a "former editor of a major newsweekly"—he asked Harry if he was going to wear "tights or a tutu." The other is a "female author of best-selling nonfiction books"—she asked Harry if he was going to shave his legs. The last is a "famous male novelist, who happened to be an old pal of Ms. Bushnell"—he wished Harry good luck, then "declared with a rueful grin, 'Charles is always having to explain himself.'"

The last is surely Bret Easton Ellis. But the rest? Your guesses, please! Once we figure out who the offenders are, we will maybe call Harry out in Sag Harbor and ask him why he's friends with them.

The Man Who Traded a Jets Uniform for Ballet Shoes [NYT]