I FEEL fortunate in that I met John Barry, when both of us were quite young, and I adore his music from so many films.

I came to first know John Barry Prendergast when, as a teenager, I used to hang around backstage at the Rialto the late 1950s during Sunday concerts.

These shows starred some of the biggest names in music, from big bands to individual singers.

Backstage Barry (as I called him) used to regale the arriving audience with his favourite music played over the PA system from a turntable with LPs behind the curtains.

I was taking photographs of all the stars for my own interest and collection. As a late teenager I had the run of the whole cinema, by kind permission of Barry’s father, Jack Xavier Prendergast, who owned it.

At a time in the late 50s, Barry decided to start his own rock band – the John Barry Seven – and his father asked me to photograph them for “front of house” pictures. So I was the first person to photograph the John Barry Seven.

In June 2002, I met Barry again. I had nominated him for the Honorary Freedom of the City of York. I eventually got the city to bestow the Honorary Freedom on him.

It was a great event for a great man and he was clearly humbled by the occasion.

So John Barry is gone, but his music will live on forever.

Peter Stanhope, Cyprus Grove, Haxby, York.

• I WAS sad to learn of the death of John Barry as I have been a fan of his music for many years.

I met him and his wife in the late 1980s when I did work for him through my antique restoration business. I found him a most unassuming person and I was delighted when he signed my tape of his movie themes, Concert John Barry, which means more to me now after his passing.

I hope the city fathers will find some way of celebrating John’s contribution to the world of music and the fact he was a son of York. How about a summer open-air concert of his music on Knavesmire with a full orchestra? My wife even suggested York Minster; the acoustics would be fantastic. Can you imagine the Bond music in that setting?

David J Wilde, Acomb, York.

• I WAS so sad to read of the passing of the great John Barry.

I remember going to see John Barry and the Seven in York when I was a teenager, and getting his autograph.

My friend and I were so excited. Who knew then what a wonderful body of work he would give the world? He left too soon.

Ruth M Spindler (Proctor), Pacific Palisades, California.