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Writers of letters to The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald are poets, dreamers and provocateurs. The overwhelming majority is in search of a better world, even if some disguise their aspiration in a sheath that is crackling dry. They are possessed of good sense and a wicked sense of humour. No topic is off limits.

Yet hundreds of offerings bite the dust every day. Some are too late. Too vulgar. Too confessional. Some writers are victims of their own success and are at risk of overexposure. Others don't meet the Herald's stringent verification rules. Others are delightfully (but unprintably) kooky. All are kept.

From Tony Abbott's dress-ups to Julia Gillard's karate chop, Judith Lucy's sex life and the perils of proposing to your pet, the vault is opened and our writers' wit, insight and imagination are unleashed.

Pardon Me for Mentioning . . .