Death in the Family
SIR,—Kenneth Allsop (Letters, May 13) takes me to task for not checking the facts in my reference to him. Since I mentioned him only to suggest that he has a warm and compassionate heart, I do not under- stand how I could have checked my facts, nor why he has taken such grave offence.
I did not accuse him of writing an offensive obituary. I did not try to justify my own 'paltry and repellent books.' I did not even claim that he is a literary parasite, although, if he were to suggest it, I should have to agree that he is one. As a matter of fact, I have never felt unduly worried as to what his 'personal assessment of Evelyn Waugh's place in English letters' might be.
My motive in drawing attention to his warm and compassionate heart was to illustrate the wide dis- parity of talent which possession of such an article can embrace. It is extremely painful to have to dot the 'i's in this way. The reason I chose him from the whole field of warm-hearted, mediocre people was that having watched him perform on television I imagined that his case would be familiar to most readers.
If he does not like people to notice his unfortunate deficiencies, he should not parade them so frequently. AUBERON WAUGH The Old Rectory, Chilton Ponta, Hungerford, Berkshire
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