Reading the interview with Maggie O’Farrell (Novelist Maggie O’Farrell: ‘Children don’t just need butterflies and rainbows’, 30 November) brought back quite a few painful memories, as I stammered from the age of 11 to about 18. It came suddenly and almost disappeared, but even now, at 79, I have the occasional lapse.
Like Maggie, I had certain letters that I found almost impossible to say – R and W come to mind. The two activities I loathed most were shopping – in a queue, I’d be a bag of nerves waiting for my turn to ask for something – and reading a part in a play in class. I would scan the pages ahead and try to rehearse my part in my head, but when it arrived nothing came out of my mouth.
