Keith Floyd

I felt I had to write to tell you how utterly unkind and distasteful I found Paul Levy's obituary of Keith Floyd (16 September), writes Miles Fielding.

From start to finish it belittled almost everything Floyd had done and dwelt on negatives. It came across as having been written by someone who disliked the man he was writing about. The fact is that Floyd was one of those rare characters who actually made one feel what fun life could be. He exploited his ability to charm and was loved by a whole generation of those with a love of "bon vivant".

I met him on several occasions and found him to be charming, humorous and thoroughly good company. And I can assure Mr Levy that he DID have great talent as a cook and certainly had an excellent knowledge of his subject. What a pity to have printed such an obituary – The Independent has lost a reader.