Naming names JEN WAKE (Letters, July 29) is perfectly correct that Mike is a corruption or abbreviation for Michael.

I prefer to be addressed as “Mike”, but anybody calling me “Mick” would sharply be told that people who call me “Mick” would call James Bond “Jim” and Winston Churchill “Winnie”.

So perhaps I should point out to my fan club - ie Buzz Lightyear and company - that some time ago I stated that in letters signed M C Usherwood I was trying to be serious about something I felt strongly about, ie pavement cyclists, but in letters signed Mike Usherwood I was exercising my natural wit and trying to inject a bit of humour into peoples’ lives.

M C Usherwood, Mendip Close, Huntington, York.