Not all plaques are blue! The one already in place at 32 Pearson Park, Hull, recording Philip Larkin’s time in the flat of High Windows is green, erected by the local Avenues and Pearson Park Residents’ Association some years ago. We celebrate local residents with green plaques on their houses (criteria: they have to be of national renown and dead – though exceptions to that rule have been made, notably for Ian Carmichael, who also came to unveil the plaque for Dorothy L Sayers, to whom he was indebted – he said – for the best part of his acting life). Plaque debate and decisions – as a continuous, but not always prominent, part of our work as a committee – are usually, alas, now prompted by a death: recent plaques commemorate Anthony Minghella, Alan Plater and Jean Hartley (Larkin’s first publisher, with her husband). The next is in memory of the cinematographer and director Kay Mander. So, thanks to Linda Gresham (Letters, 22 July), we will now be contemplating a plaque for John Joubert at 32 Pearson Park – which will make it the first local house to sport two green plaques.
Stephanie Wilson
Hull
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