It was a pleasure to listen to the recently rediscovered episode of Desert Island Discs featuring Louis Armstrong (Report, 31 January), which was produced by my late husband, Michael Hall. Michael’s anecdotes about the guests on the programme were all fascinating, but his recollections of Armstrong were among the most memorable. Roy Plomley and my husband took Armstrong to lunch but, off air, their guest talked very fast and Michael struggled to understand his accent. He caught the name Barbara Streisand at several points in the conversation, but not much else. However, Roy Plomley, as it turned out, had a close relative who was a Creole (I think Michael said it was his mother) and so was attuned to the accent and had no trouble in understanding him. At one point, there was a pause and Armstrong looked serious, then burst out laughing. It seemed they’d been discussing Armstrong’s weight problems, but this didn’t stop the star from enjoying a hearty lunch. It was only later that they discovered the disastrous consequences of his treatment with laxatives.
Brenda Hall
Exeter
