Спайк Миллиган отказался платить штраф за парковку и готов отправиться в тюрьму

Spike Milligan — the manic force behind BBC radio's anarchic The Goon Show and a founding influence on modern British comedy — was also one of history's great writers of furious letters. In July 1973, the target was a parking fine. He'd been ticketed for leaving his car in a car park that didn't open to cars until 11 a.m., a rule whose logic he could not begin to accept. So he wrote to the Magistrates' Court to explain, with mounting Goon-ish indignation, exactly why he would not pay, would not appear, and would happily go to prison instead. His letter, collected in Spike Milligan: Man of Letters, reads in full: Tell me, what is the point of having an empty car park before 11.00 a.m.? To set up a car park to keep cars out until after 11.00 a.m. is asinine; to have an empty car park in a choked city is to increase the congestion; an empty space where a car should be parked is contrary to organisation and common sense. In other words, what is the point of having an empty car park? Again, if they had a large notice at the entrance of the car park which you could not miss when you went in, saying 'no parking until after 11.00 a.m.' this would also help the situation. As I say, it is outrageous, therefore I have no intention of paying the fine, I will not be in Court on the day requested and I shall not pay any extra fine as the result of my non-appearance. Therefore your only way out is to send me to prison. I will gladly do this and make use of the media television and newspapers to put across my point of view. Previously: • The Goons: "I'm Walking Backwards for Christmas" • Gallery of 34 notes written by pissed-off neighbors • Pentagon sends angry letters to Toronto sex shop