Last bit of a lovely A.N. Wilson review of Wodehouse’s letters:
In 1899, Wodehouse (who was to read the works of Shakespeare every year of his life thereafter) wrote to a school chum, “I heard yesterday that Shakespeare was not alive. It steeped me in profound gloom. But I thought eftsoons that I was alive so it was all right for the Literature of the World”. Like many of the best jokes, it was true.
A Few Reasonable Words 