Letter: Grief for Jill Dando

Sir: May I congratulate Deborah Orr on articulating the unease I felt at the public and media reaction to Jill Dando's death ("Death by television", 28 April)? Although such an event causes regret among those who knew of her, protestations of national grief risk trivialising the feelings of those who actually knew her. If it is acceptable to feel that you "know" someone through observing them on television, it is only a short step to feeling that the reverse is true and that you play a part in their life.

TOM MOODY-STUART

London WC1