287 From a letter to Joy Hill, Allen & Unwin

[Tolkien's telephone number was still in the Oxford directory, and he was sometimes bothered by calls from 'fans'.]

10 May 1966

Thank you very much for your suggestions about my telephone number, which I will consider. Removing the number from the directory seems better than the method adopted by Major W. H. Lewis in protecting his brother, which was to lift the receiver and say 'Oxford Sewage Disposal Unit' and go on repeating it until they went away.