MAN OF STRAWS

E-mail from Alan Ryan to Andrew Malcolm, 17th April 2005, on the subject of the celebrated A2B letter to Ryan from Will Straw (Jack Straw's son) of 2nd January 1998 Done quietly (pdf)

From: Alan Ryan, alan.ryan@new.oxford.ac.uk
To: Andrew Malcolm, akme@btinternet.com
Date: Sunday, April 17, 2005 2:32 pm
Subject: Retraction

Dear Andrew,

It is entirely false, and defamatory, to claim that I shaded the offer of a place to William Straw. He was asked for 2As and 1B (and he got four As); he enquired whether the A in maths he had achieved at the age of 14 counted as one of the As, and as in all such cases, we replied that it did. He therefore needed one further A and at least one B. That was what I told him. We write several such letters a year to people to clarify what we are asking for. If you don't take the claim off the website at once, I shall go and get a lawyer to make you do it. I don't want to restrict your freedom of speech, and I see there is nothing to be done about persuading you to stop fantasizing about me, but I don't propose to let you circulate untruths that reflect on my professional integrity. I expect the claim to be off the site within fve (sic) days.

Alan Ryan

New College, Oxford OX1 3BN
Tel: 01865-279501
PA: 01865-279548 or 279512
Fax: 01865-724047

Over fve hundred days have passed since the arrival of this e-mail, but still no writ. This can only mean that my posting is correct. Click now for Done quietly (pdf). For Ryan's latest short-straw access plan, see Dim, idle, wicked, THES 19/1/07. - A. M.