17 NOVEMBER 1990, Page 34

Born-again Glashan

Sir: In the forgotten Fifties, John Glashan's 'The Eye of the Needle' was my Bible. On the back (from memory) was a painting of Glashan 'done by a chimpan- zee' and the short blurb described the cartoonist as a failed brain surgeon. I longed to know what he was really like and have thought of him, on and off, ever since. Life frequently behaves like many of his cartoons.

When they suddenly appeared in The Spectator last year, I thought they must be re-prints — surely Glashan must have died long ago. His recent work gives me hope that he is still alive. May I be enlightened at last, after all these years: is there a photograph of him — not taken by a chimpanzee?

Carol Sinclair Smith

6/32 Marne Street, South Yarra, Melbourne, Australia