Sir – Once again, people are misunderstanding the ‘Christopher Gray’ phenomenon, as Ms Spira’s letter demonstrates (July 17).
In extensive correspondence in your columns a few years ago (I was an enthusiastic correspondent), it was definitively concluded that ‘Christopher Gray’ was not a real person.
Rather, the column that appears under this rubric is a brilliant satirical creation of The Oxford Times, intended to (and succeeding in) sending up newspaper columnists.
How else can you explain the column’s headline ‘Another happy visit to Buxton’s super festival’ in which a laudatory reference to an act called ‘The Humblebums’ appears (Gray Matter, July 17)?
Additionally, The Oxford Times has really gone to town by creating a ‘Christopher Gray’ character, which appears at various events in the city. I last saw it, wearing a strange brown suit and sporting an extraordinary hat, at the Oxford Literary Festival. Terrific stuff!
So please, Ms Spira, join in the fun. I promise you hilarious laughter over your Thursday morning breakfast if you just take the column in the spirit in which it is intended.
Nigel Clarke, Oxford
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