i: Letter from the editor 24 January 2011

He’s only been back a week, but already our resident American, Cooper Brown, has caused something of a stir. He’s been involved in an altercation with a TV presenter outside a London club, he seems to have got Piers Morgan’s goat (see today's column on page 14), and he’s upset a few of our readers.

As I explained in re-introducing Cooper to a British audience, he’s not to everyone’s taste. “What on earth was the thinking that brought Cooper Brown into the fold?” asks i reader Joe Connell. “Loud, brash, and ‘in your face’, he actually revels in acting like an overgrown teenager.” Suzanne Ash writes from Dudley to take issue with Cooper’s derogatory remarks about the British.

“Alongside the terrifying statistics about gun culture in the States,” she says, “I will cheerfully live alongside the wonky-toothed, chunky and occasionally whiffy Brits any time. A little bit more respect please, Mr Brown.”

Knowing Cooper as I do, I think a plea for respect may fall on deafears. Of course, he doesn’t speak for the paper (we’re all terribly polite here), but his unique take on the British celebrity class is nothing if not entertaining.

Already, a fan club has sprung up, dedicated to his column in i, and also to his Twitter feed. And they’re just as loud and proud as their hero: witness the picture above of a self-styled “Super Cooper Trooper” wearing his limited-edition T-shirt. Get yours now! Kelner out!

Simon Kelner