A question of taste
Sir: Tastes vary, but I am surprised that John Mortimer saw fit to put together that excremental anecdote about my father Basil Dean being blackballed by the Gar- rick Club (Diary, 12 March), of which both my brother and I are members. I know nothing of the part attributed to Gerald du Maurier, but it is true that in the This is where Phil meditates.' 1920s my father was blackballed, at a time when divorce still carried a serious stigma and he was divorced from my mother. I was told that her uncle, the dramatist Alfred Sutro, was the prime mover in that rejection.
However, Mortimer might have added that Basil Dean was later elected and was a member for almost 40 years. The Club made him an honorary life member and gave a dinner in his honour. His portrait by Jack Gilroy hangs over the door in the bar.
I hope they don't put John Mortimer next to him.
Joseph Dean
The Hall, West Braboume, Ashford, Kent
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