13 SEPTEMBER 1975, Page 5

In praise of Buchan

Sir: John 'Buchan used, I believe, to work for The Spectator. He deserves a better centenary tribute than that accorded to him by Mr Benny Green. I was not even born in 1940 — the year that Lord Tweedsmuir died — and, apart from being a fellow alumnus of Brasenose, I have no axe to grind. It is just that, along with so many others, I enjoy Buchan's works — dated though some of them inevitably now are.

His autobiography Memory Holdthe-Door (known in the US as Pilgrim's Way) is surely one of the finest ever written. It was a favourite book of President Kennedy. I would surmise that JFK was a better judge of a man of action and a man of letters than Mr Benny Green.

Stephen Green 1 Arkwright Mansions, Finchley Road, London NW3