21 JANUARY 1995, page 32

Theatre Roles

Sir: Widespread outrage has been expressed because it was recently disclosed that a surgeon had supervised the removal of an appendix by a nurse. The most vocif- erous protests......

Darwin Was Right

Sir: Most aspiring authors have their stuff turned down from time to time, and it takes a special kind of self-importance to dignify a rejection slip as a sinister intention to......

Whose Nose?

Sir: How dare Lord Charteris call the Duchess of York vulgar (`Saying what everyone thinks', 7 January)? She was recently here to visit a home for retarded children, was much......

Obfuscation Corner

Sir: Understandably, perhaps, in view of his background, Oleg Gordievsky (The Guardian's KGB tactics', 14 January) mis- takes reasoned criticism — commonplace in a democratic......

Vanity Case

Sir: Mr Alistair Home (Letters, 14 Jan- uary) suggests that Jeremy Paxman should follow up his article by another: to advise distinguished politicians, generals, heads of......