Re Barry Humphries as a bibliophile (Obituary, 22 April), he had a strong interest in English Victorian poets. My father, Desmond Flower, was an authority on Ernest Dowson, so Humphries tracked him down to his London home in 1992 to view the collection. Charm personified, he left with several first editions at bargain prices under his arm. Given the afternoon’s entertainment, Pa didn’t a mind a bit.
David Flower
London
• Alison Hallum (Letters, 25 April) remarks on the absence of “Vote Conservative” posters in Tonbridge. In this corner of Kent, not only is there no sign of such posters but our previous two Conservative councillors for this ward have suddenly become independents, claiming that they can better represent our interests that way.
Brian Sandall
Whitstable, Kent
• Ofgem’s decision to exclude only over-85s from the enforced installation of prepay meters couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the average age of death in Britain being 81, could it (Ofgem’s voluntary code on prepayment meters seems a bit of a mess, 18 April)?
Michael Heaton
Warminster, Wiltshire
• My favourite use of language in a school report (Letters, 25 April) was when one of my daughter’s teachers recommended that she should try to be “more circumspect and less truculent”. It was her English teacher, of course.
Lindsay Camp
Bristol
• At Dad’s unemployment office in the 60s, he handled a personnel file labelled “Prince, Charles” (Nearly four in 10 young adults want elected UK head of state, poll finds, 24 April).
David Feintuck
Lewes, East Sussex
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