Are you interested in memorabilia?

THE iconic hat worn by John Wayne in five major Westerns is up for sale. The price will start at UK £17,000 (US $28,632) The sale will be held next Tuesday in Los Angeles.

I won't be attending. Although John Wayne represents a great symbol of a real man from bygone days, I don't collect memorabilia. Two of my husband's sons live nearby. I don't think the sale will interest them either.

The Duke, who died in 1979, sported the felt cowboy hat in the 1960s movies The Comancheros, McLintock!, The Sons Of Katie Elder, El Dorado and The Undefeated.

The sweatband of the hat is marked with his name in black pen, probably by the wardrobe department, and the underside of the rim says John Wayne, with the name of the film Comencheros (misspelled).

Wayne featured in around 170 movies during his 50-year career. Over 30 years of them, he worked with stunt double Chuck Roberson, and he passed his hat over to the man. When Roberson died in 1988 his collection was sold and the owner is now auctioning it.

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Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway.

John Wayne was one of the big celebrities in the 60's and 70s. I never heard scandal about him and wouldn't have been interested if the newspapers revealed any. I can't understand why so many people nowadays want to suck up the drama in celebrities' lives.

Here are ten facts about John Wayne via www.telegraph.co.uk.

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1. He played the hero in countless war films but never served in the military himself - he got an exemption during World War II.

2. His breakthrough role was in Stagecoach in 1939 but he did not win an Academy Award until 1970 for his performance in True Grit. He was previously nominated twice - for best actor in 1949's Sands of Iwo Jima and best picture for 1960's The Alamo, which he directed and produced

3. Wayne played American football while at the University of Southern California until he injured himself bodysurfing in Newport Beach and had to abandon his athletic career

4. For years he lived in Newport Beach where he kept his yacht Wild Goose, a former minesweeper, which is stilled moored there

5. Republican-voting Dennis Hopper, who starred in two films with John Wayne, said he was not Right-wing enough for the Duke, who called him "the Commie". "He would say, "Where's the in-house Commie?" said Hopper.

6. Wayne reportedly converted to Roman Catholicism on his deathbed

7. He wore 4in lifts in his shoes, a toupee and had an eye lift in the 1960s

8. According to Garry Wills, who wrote John Wayne's America: The Politics of Celebrity, Wayne did not actually like horses and only would ride while filming

9. His first job in the industry was working as a prop man at the Fox Film Corporation for $75 a week

10. A heavy smoker - up to five or six packets a day - Wayne was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1964 and underwent extensive surgery.

I lived in Australia until the age of 45 yrs and then moved to England. John Wayne films were common all over Australia. During that era, the public couldn't get enough of cowboy stories. I'm not sure why the subject was so popular. Maybe we didn't have so much rubbish to fill our minds with back then. A cowboy story represented real life life in the outdoors amongst true grit - the earth, birds and animals.

What are your thoughts on John Wayne and his legacy?