Tarred as Inky Poo

SIR – The use of powdered ink would be a false economy for AG Whitehead (Letters, January 14).

As a child I found it impossible to write with this vile concoction without covering myself in indelible blue spray, to the extent that I became known to my classmates as Inky Poo. My handwriting never recovered. In the end I had no option but to become a doctor. Patrick Rice-oxley

Battle, East Sussex