Holidaying with Healey

To The Guardian

A friend on holiday in Crete was doing a crossword on the beach. In reply to the question who was chancellor of the exchequer in 1976, her companion shouted out “Denis Healey”. A voice boomed out: “Good morning, ladies.” Denis and Edna spent a happy hour discussing how best to spend their time in Crete with the delighted and surprised duo. Sybil Perryman, Eccles, Greater Manchester

To The Guardian

My mother was in Petra in the late 1980s tottering up the monastery hill on a donkey when she spotted Denis Healey. She introduced herself as a lifelong Labour member and when they reached the top they both shouted: “Maggie, Maggie, Maggie, out, out, out”. Sarah Cullen, Brighton

To The Guardian

Denis Healey was, like me, an inveterate haunter of second-hand bookshops. He told the story of how, when he was chancellor of the exchequer and in the northeast of England on a political visit, he took time off to track down a local secondhand book dealer whose address he had found. The dealer turned out to be working from a council house on a Tyneside estate. Healey rang the doorbell and when the man opened the door, he was astonished to see the very recognisable Healey standing there. “I’ve coom for tha taxes!” Healey boomed. Karl Sabbagh, Bloxham, Oxfordshire