May I reinforce and give my support to the statements of Alfie Guillaumier (August 15): "Many memories, bottled up in elderly people's minds are not being recorded...We need to capture them before they vanish completely..." May I be more positive in asserting that conscientious leaders fully aware of such a foreboding event have already taken action.

Nigel Holland, mayor of Floriana, has made it the policy of his council to encourage the senior citizens of the district to record their experiences of past events that had occurred in Floriana. He has already published a number of books on Floriana. Moreover, complementing the monumental publication of Oliver Friggieri, the Floriana council will soon publish another autobiography. It deals with the 1930s and 1940s, the contrasting times of peace, war and their aftermath. The focal background is also Floriana. All mayors should imitate and laud Mr Holland for his initiative.

Many Floriana minds of ageing citizens are still healthy enough to write, narrate or record on tape what they remember of the past, even though the 1930s are 79 years in the remote distance. Nevertheless, mature but active minds might have similar experiences, like the dramatis personae in Lawrence Mizzi's Dħaħen tal-Gwerra, or those in Emmanuel S. Tonna's trilogy on Floriana. However, their points of view will be both varied and different; the events entirely personal; their laborious workmanship original.

I believe Dolores Cristina, the Minister of Education, has made monetary contributions to encourage culture in Malta. However her wise gesture will be more effective if she offers any substantial donations specifically to the local councils. They will do their best to encourage senior citizens to come forward with old ideas retained in memory. Such a literature will enrich the councils' bookshelves, the libraries in the schools, and above all teach the younger generation that once there was a past they know nothing about.

Ms Cristina must take immediate action. Time is running out fast for senior citizens; there are too few still alive who can recollect what really happened in the 1930s and 1940s. During these years, the poverty-stricken grass roots or the lowest echelons of Maltese society suffered and died a death that was heroic. Unfortunately, Maltese literature hardly ever emphasised their role in history, let alone trumpeted their selfless exploits. They were the true authors of Maltese history, not governors, Councils of Government, occupation forces or local parties and their endemic rivalry.