29 SEPTEMBER 1984, Page 24

Adam's rib

Sir: According to Jeffrey Bernard (Low life, 22 September) Sibelius said to an (unnamed) Observer reporter: 'Tell them I have a big prick.' According to my late father, Kenneth Adam of the BBC, he was the first young reporter to be given such a message. It was in the early Thirties, Dad was on the Guardian, and the hungover exchange took place just as the train was leaving: Adam: But maestro, what shall I tell the Guardian?

Sibelius: Tell them I have the biggest prick in the wo-o-o-rld . . .

My father told me this story when he thought I was old enough. When did Jeffrey Bernard hear it?

Corinna Adam

110 Sinclair Road, London W14