22 DECEMBER 1990, Page 54

The real Denis

Sir: Re John Wells's 'So farewell then, Denis' (1 December), when I knew Denis in the Seventies it was in the business world — pre PM and pre Burmah Oil, and of course long before 'Dear Bill'. I never thought him Wodehousian' then; and cer- tainly no Bertie Wooster drone; quite the contrary, and there was no 'Trappist en- forced silence'; in expressing his persona] view of those times, quite delightfully, he showed no hesitation to laugh at himself. But, as Ogden Nash said, 'To inhabit the same world as Mr Wodehouse is a high privilege . .

Wayne Ellis

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