How a Gentleman tells off a bigot

First, ridicule him on his bigotry, then praise those who he hates, and then refuse to cooperate with him, all of this using snotty and ironic language that is probably lost by the thug. an excerpt:

Dear Sirs,

Thank you for your letter. I regret that I am not clear as to what you intend by arisch. I am not of Aryan extraction: that is Indo-Iranian; as far as I am aware none of my ancestors spoke Hindustani, Persian, Gypsy, or any related dialects.

But if I am to understand that you are enquiring whether I am of Jewish origin, I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people

My great-great-grandfather came to England in the eighteenth century from Germany: the main part of my descent is therefore purely English, and I am an English subject — which should be sufficient.

I have been accustomed, nonetheless, to regard my German name with pride, and continued to do so throughout the period of the late regrettable war, in which I served in the English army. I cannot, however, forbear to comment that if impertinent and irrelevant inquiries of this sort are to become the rule in matters of literature, then the time is not far distant when a German name will no longer be a source of pride....

The classic Tolkien letter telling off the Germans is on line.

and check out some of their other letters on this new blog.

and if you have an interest in Tolkien, by all means buy the book of his letters.

headsup FT