By the way , reading the Private Eye magazine I can't help comparing it's "styles" with those incredible originals scripts, written by Henry Moor. Donaldson lived at 139 Elm Park Mansions on Park Walk, Chelsea, London SW10, from which address all the Root letters were sent.

Supposedly a wet fish merchant from Fulham, he is an avatar for a lot of the to-the-right-of-Attila-the-Hun, Thatcher-supporting, mildly racist, entitled, liberal-baiting mansplaining that was de rigeur and absolutely unchallenged in the Spectator/Private Eye yachts and casinos circles that Donaldson frequented. Together, they provide a powerful impression of what life must have been like in late-Seventies Britain for a retired trader in wet fish, seeing his country overrun by lesbians, lefties and other losers. Not only have so many of the people approached here faded from the memory that one can't quite remember why they were laughable, but some of the attitudes verge on bullying and prejudice in a way that's now well beyond the bounds of acceptability by today's mores. Back in 1979, people with too much time on their hands could send actual letters to leading politicians, judges and other luminaries of light entertainment, and expect a reply. Jean Rook's reply "I am certainly not a thinking man's Anna Raeburn, so you must solve your own problems.His experiences there formed the basis of his first novel, Both the Ladies and the Gentlemen (1975). By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions. The millions who enjoyed the original 'Root' will no doubt have assumed that such a public and hysterical scam could never be repeated. Published in 1980, what would Henry Root of the wet fish emporium make of the A to Z listers of today.

If further recommendation be needed, then surely there is none finer than Glenda Slagg/Linda Lee Potter: "About as funny as pushing somebody fully clothed into a swimming pool.

The letters aren’t really dated, with the exception of certain BBC television stars and the one to the South African Ambassador. Donaldson's ghastly creation wrote outrageous, threatening, scurrilous and outlandish letters to public figures, praising, insulting or attempting to bribe them. This single volume brings together "The Henry Root Letters" and "The Further Letters of Henry Root". com, who sent a letter to all US senators, posing as a child and asking them for their favourite joke.