Ton i Paine
Sir: Your reviewer, Richard Luckett, has surely been less than fair to Miss Audrey Williamson's Life of Thomas Paine (August 18) when he implies that her Portrait of that great man is less than rounded? Moreover his reference to the play (!) written by Paul Foster for the La Mama Experimental Theatre of America which Mr Lockett is disPosed to find "politically favourable” atakes one wonder whether your reviewer saw this travesty of Paine's life When it disgraced a London stage in the West End a few years back. Certainly the 'black legend' persists to this day and the outcry when Paine's statue was about to be unveiled at his birthplace is only an extention of the calumny. heaped upon the memory of Thetford's finest son down the years.
Finally, I would have thought that Paine's political career does provide a good argument for the Thetford statue, for Paine dared to stand alone against the mob of his day when he fought for liberty of thought and speech. To be heroic when supported is not so very difficult It is the pioneer, like Paine (and they are few and far between, these exceptional people as we know to our cost) who in the strength of his own individuality takes a stand against tyranny in all its forms that needs recognition. We are indebted to Paine's latest biographer for the scholarship and research she has poured into making so much known to the present generation about this friend of mankind.
Peter Cotes Savage Club, 86 St James's Street, London SW1
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