WELL, they say all publicity is good publicity but did I really deserve THAT much (The Press, January 26)?

Stephen Lewis did a brilliant article on my book, but the rest left me somewhat bemused.

Before the lynch mob comes looking for me, can I just point out that my book is not a denunciation of York – as comments online suggested – but in fact is a celebration of the city and what gets left out of its very stuffy official history, as Stephen illustrates so well.

The quote about York being dull is not mine: it is by that great York native, the composer John Barry, and comes from A Sixties Theme by Eddi Fiegal.

The trite word “twee” as a description of York is not a word I have used to describe the city. So sorry all who wrote the wild and wonderful comments online about what you would like to do with me, but I never said it.

As for the comments from “the provincial frumps”, in the words of the late Mandy Rice Davies, “They would say that, wouldn’t they”?

Paul Furness, Clementhorpe, York.

So you thought you knew York? Think again... by Stephen Lewis>>