Lord Healey
Stuart Frith writes: I once heard Denis Healey (obituary, Oct 5) recount a tale from his childhood when he, along with a group of friends were on a walk over the moors above Keighley being conducted by his local parish priest. While he was in a deep philosophical discussion with him, the young Denis suddenly had an uncontrollable urge to break wind in a loud and prolonged fashion that proved unable to resist. Overcome with embarrassment he profusely apologised, whereupon the priest replied, “Don’t worry my son, there is no need to apologise. An empty house is better than an angry tenant!”
Lord Lexden writes: As editor of the Conservative party’s publications in the 1980s I once had cause to be very grateful to Denis Healey. My duties included the production of a fat tome entitled The Campaign Guide which set out facts and figures on every area of policy from Esperanto to nuclear weapons from a Tory point of view. A copy of the 1983 edition found its way into Healey’s hands. He was quoted in the press as saying that “a candidate of any party could make a decent speech on any subject using this book”. Sales, which had been modest, suddenly jumped.
Árpád Göncz
Bill Simpson writes: As librarian of Trinity College Dublin I had the pleasure of showing President Göncz (obituary, Oct 14) the treasures of the Old Library during his visit to Ireland in 1995. As well as the great medieval manuscripts such as the Book of Kells, these included the Proclamation of the Republic of Ireland during the Easter Rising of 1916. After I had outlined the events of the period and explained how the uprising had been suppressed by the arrival of British troops he turned to me with a half smile and said, “Ah, yes, we had the same problem with the Russians in 1956”.
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Sheila Browne
Dr Janet Huskinson writes: Right up to her death Sheila Browne (obituary, Oct 13) continued to serve institutions and communities as she had in working life, but retirement allowed more of her own pursuits. She took up bell-ringing and tai chi, gardened, travelled with friends and discovered Venice. She had a rapport with children (related perhaps to her general hatred of stuffiness), and enjoyed a new generation of friends’ and family’s offspring with whom she could debate and share the occasional playground session.