THANKS FOR WRITING TO US, WE LOVE HEARING WHAT YOU THINK
£100 letter
Comedy moment
As a life member of the Friends of St Clement Danes Central RAF Church, I was delighted to read about former service aircraft engineer Marie Cross making her debut as a stand-up comedian aged 55 (It’s Never Too Late, April).
I waited until retirement at 65 from my tour guide job at Tower Bridge before launching myself, with no experience, as a comic during the London Fringe in 2010, supported by the landlord of a nearby pub, who allowed me to perform for five nights in an upstairs room with no hire charge.
For 45 minutes I regaled my appreciative audience of friends, relatives, work colleagues and tourists with tales from my life and the delights and downsides of ageing. A Time Out reviewer said my ‘witty’ one-liners were worthy of Victor Meldrew and that I had ‘bags of potential’.
Lately, comedy has given way to performances with Public Acts, the community arm of the National Theatre, where last summer I made my debut on the Olivier stage, age 79, in a new version of The Odyssey, with 160 amateur and professional actors from across the UK, creating the venue’s biggest ever production. A film and documentary were made about the show and my colleagues and I were on the red carpet at their premières at the National – a highlight of my life!
I have completed two courses in radio acting at London’s City Lit and am hoping that, as I enter my eighth decade, I will work for the BBC after being constantly rejected in the Sixties because of my south London accent.
Support pharmacies
The article about the closure of pharmacies (May) touched a nerve. I have free delivery of around six items a month, which I am sure cost a great deal more than the amount the pharmacy receives. So, I wrote to my MP to advise her of the situation and ask her to try to redress the balance. I hope many of your other readers did the same thing.
A better understanding
Thank you for the article on pharmacists. We have had several difficulties with our local pharmacists over recent weeks, and this article helped me to better understand the major challenges they are facing. It feels as though we have gone back a century to when most people could not afford to see a doctor and paid a local herbalist for whatever might help their ailments.
Culinary delights
Your Saga Voices on mealtimes (May) summarises my own experiences. I was born in 1950 and brought up from a culinary point of view under the influence of my maternal grandmother, who cooked simple wholesome food. My mother was born in 1924 and at that time life was frugal, so food had to go a long way. If Sunday lunch was roast chicken, the leftovers were always used.
My mother worked full-time as a teacher and was less
