THE EDITOR, Sir:

"To sharpen a pencil is a simple joy" and to read Ramesh Sujanani's article in The Sunday Gleaner of September 7 (Section F5), was for me "simple joy". Every word fitted into my demand for freshly sharpened pencils.

My students and I are constantly at war over what I call "frog-mouth" or "kitchen-knife" points; and since I teach music, there is no question that the pencil must be "freshly sharpened" for every few notes written.

Short pencils - cigar butts and stumps - are an annoyance. A pencil is not a pencil when it is much less than its original full length! It is necessary for a person to have several pencils - not just 'a pencil'.

When I attended elementary school more than 60 years ago, my father made a ritual of sharpening my pencil with his penknife every morning.

My students are required to have a clean eraser, a sharpener and three #2 HB pencils. (No borrowing.) There is a wall sharpener in the classroom, but I must admit that it has reached the age of chewing up the pencil and producing no point.

Sujanani's article dealt with the graphite but not the wood surrounding it. Some pencil woods are so hard that nothing sharpens them! The pencil spins around in the sharpener but nothing happens.

Thank you, Mr Sujanani. I enjoyed your article. "Simple Joy".

I am, etc.,

JOY CARTER

16 Old Hope Road

Kingston 5