[Nigel Mace]

What a pleasure to find a community of people who have rediscovered this wonderful talent. His Idle Demon has been my vademecum for fifty years and is my favourite gift to friends who will truly appreciate his splendid combinations of wit, insight and playful, if sometimes painful, truthfulness.

Too many of his verses jostle for 'favourite' status but I rather agree with my very good, and tragically prematurely deceased, friend who introduced me to him that The Owlet And The Gamekeeper must be somewhere near the top. Its amused reflection on the folly of human action comforted him in his stoic response to an early terminal illness - and it is hard to think of a better companion in that final adversity than Lister. Try The Lost Gardens Of The Morning for that journey.

The fact of your rediscovery is what has led me to join you all. I look forward to the rest of the ride.