My wife has made the outrageous accusation that I buy the Financial Times merely to come up with letters to submit to it.
Oh, by the way.
Alison Jamieson (“Memories of Little Britaly, FT Weekend, April 8) writes of an Italian ice-cream vendor offering potential customers a taster. It put me in mind of one of Tom Lehrer’s most memorable lyrics. In his 1953 paean to an under-appreciated profession “The Old Dope Peddler” Lehrer sings “he gives the kids free samples, because he knows full well, that today’s young innocent faces will be tomorrow’s clientele.”
In 2012 the US rapper 2 Chainz requested permission to sample the song. Lehrer’s response: “As sole copyright owner of ‘The Old Dope Peddler’, I grant you motherfuckers permission to do this. Please give my regards to Mr. Chainz, or may I call him 2?”
Marc Hudson (Doctor, but not the kind who could prescribe dope legally).
marchudson.net 
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