SIR - Do you remember having a penfriend when you were younger? Do you remember the delights of getting letters from faraway places with strange-sounding names?

My penfriends used to send me foreign stamps and postcards of exotic places that I could never even hope to visit in those days and I collected them all eagerly! Sadly, we are told, no one writes letters any more, stationery companies report a lack of demand for matching envelopes and writing paper and e-mail has taken over the world.

But there are still hundreds of people worldwide who love to write letters and receive some back in return - and I am one of them.

My life has revolved around letter writing for many years and I have travelled some 70,000 miles in my time to meet and visit penfriends.

I still have about 50 to whom I write regularly and I can tell many amazing tales of penfriends I've visited and penfriends who have been to stay with me.

And that's what I'm after now - penfriend tales. Do you have one to tell? Can you recall an interesting tale involving a penfriendship? If so, I'd love to hear it. I'm putting together a collection of penfriend stories for publication later this year and I'd love to include as many different ones as possible. Drop me a line if you have a story.

MARJORIE EDWARDS, PO Box 5534, Swanage, BH19 2ZN.