Cheering content at a difficult time | EE Cummings | Tennis etiquette | Uses for tights
I have just lost my dear wife of 54 years to the cruel disease that is Alzheimer’s. Both I and my five adult children are deep in grief. I must thank the Guardian today (13 May), and specifically Marina Hyde for her wonderful wry sense of humour that kept me laughing throughout, George Monbiot for some actual positive suggestions going forward at this very difficult time, and those who wrote and chose the selection of letters. You have all cheered me up, thank you.
Brian Stephens
Hereford
• As a former English teacher I always enjoy the direct style of EE Cummings’ poetry. But as a former politician I had always thought his two-line poem – “a politician is an arse upon / which everyone has sat except a man” unfair to politicians. And then along came Donald Trump and Boris Johnson.
David Lepper
MP for Brighton Pavilion, 1997-2010
