In an age when so many politicians have deceived the people who put them in place, former councillor Sheila Schaffer, whose death you reported (The Argus, January 4), represented a breath of fresh air blowing through the Brighton she knew and served so well.

Devoid of self-seeking or any pomposity, she was close to people and their human concerns. She would as readily expend her energies on campaigning to save a local post office as she would working for world peace.

Interestingly, her public achievements came mostly in the years of a very fruitful “retirement”: a remarkable role model. It was a privilege to know Sheila Schaffer. She was fun, too.

Peter Avis, Coombe Road, Brighton