He means boxing gloves.

Mr Wilson and other regular contributors to the letter pages of The Canberra Times have been asked to assemble for a photograph.

Some have enjoyed a feisty relationship on the letters pages and Mr Wilson is jokingly concerned that, in person, the pen might be abandoned for the sword. Although, in his particular photograph, Mr Wilson felt among friends.

"You have got isolated here more or less the right-wing of the regular letter writers," he said, with a laugh.

To which R.S. Gilbert cheerily added: "I've been accused of being slightly to the right of Genghis Khan."

Others are more obviously to the left, such as Albert M. White, John Passant and Judy Bamberger who have long campaigned on social issues through the letters pages.

They are names we all know – R.S. Gilbert, Evelyn Bean, Bill Deane, Albert M. White, Jack Kershaw, Judy Bamberger, Sam Nona, John Milne, Ric Hingee, William Maley, Michael McCarthy, Jennie Goldie. Prolific and persistent, some have written letters to the Times for decades.

But the name which perhaps generates the most heat in the letters pages for his/her conservative and provocative views – H. Ronald, Jerrabomberra – still remains an enigma. He/she did not respond to our many entreaties to put a face to a name.

Our records show more than 400 references to H.Ronald letters since 1999.

Over the years, H.Ronald has questioned climate change, supported the V8 races despite the "clean air zealots", criticised Aborigines for "wallowing in self-pity" , called David Hicks " a traitor", the ABC "bloated", Tony Abbott "refreshing normal and decent" and "well-heeled Canberrans pathetic" for "whining about a miserable $5 Medicare co-payment".

Little wonder in generally Labor-voting Canberra that H.Ronald's letters generate the most passionate responses.

One correspondent wrote recently: "At least the H.Ronald Fan Club wouldn't have any trouble finding somewhere to have a meeting. There are so many phone boxes in Canberra."

Still, the H.Ronald mystique remains as he/she continues to lob metaphorical grenades into the letters pages.

Letters editor Cameron Ross estimates the Times publishes about 10,000 letters a year, about 10 per cent of those received. The vast majority of letters are sent by email, with "a few diehards" still sending in letters on paper.

Ross said H. Ronald's correspondence not only generated the most response from other writers but also the most heated responses.

"People will respond to his letters but also have a go at him," Ross said.

"He's an irritant under the skin of Canberra's bleeding hearts."

Other writers have been willing to be unmasked, selected by us based on the volume of their published work and that they generally write across issues and, well, we're curious to know more about the people whose names are as well-known as other writers in the paper.

R.S.Gilbert of Braddon, is Ron Solley Gilbert, a 90-year-old former deputy chair of the Trade Practices Commission.

His first letter to the Times was published in 1995 lamenting the Territory's betterment charge. Mr Gilbert reckons he's had about 1000 letters published since then.

"I started writing because I was fed up with some of the letters I was reading," he said.

Mr Gilbert has been so successful in getting his letters published that another correspondent in 2000 plaintively asked for the letters pages to "be declared an R.S. Gilbert-free zone for a little while."

Fifteen years later, Mr Gilbert is still in the pages, although lamenting a little that his strike rate of published letters has probably fallen from 70 to 50 per cent.

"I just keep going for, oh, ego I suppose. And to keep myself off the streets," he said.

Evelyn Bean, Ainslie, started writing letters to the editor 35 years ago in 1980, the first in response to noted staff atheist Ian Warden. Mrs Bean says gently she was "answering on behalf of God".

"He put baits on his hook, I used to take them often," she said of Warden.

Mrs Bean is probably best known for a pithy compliment to a journalist or photographer.

"I like to share my faith and encourage people when I see something in the paper, give them a good word and because I have a following. People like watching for my letters," she said.

Mrs Bean, 85, is a dedicated reader of The Canberra Times. Every morning in her dressing gown she goes down three levels in the lift at the Goodwin retirement village at Ainslie to collect three copies of the paper for herself and other residents.

"It gives me a reason to get up in the morning," she said.

Mrs Bean started writing letters on a typewriter and keeps all her published letters carefully displayed in photo albums.

British-born retired army officer Bill Deane, Chapman, is not a former governor-general of Australia and has had to clarify the point more than once that his letters aren't from Sir William Deane.

"I always say, 'Same name, different pension'," he said with a laugh.

Mr Deane, 80, used to write book reviews for The Canberra Times and it was having that background of making his opinion public which gave him more confidence about penning letters. "I felt more empowered you could say, that my opinion might be worth something," he said.

His first letter, in 1997, was an incendiary start, questioning "the hysterical claims that Indigenous children were victims of "genocide"."

Since retirement, Mr Deane says it's "boredom, I suppose" which keeps him going.

"You've got more time to complain," he said, cheekily.

And Mr Deane doesn't mind being a contrarian.

"A few people, like my newsagent, will say, 'That needed to be said'."

Judy Bamberger, of O'Connor; Albert M. White of Queanbeyan; and Ian De Landelles, of Hawker; gather for another photo, looking over that morning's letters – which just happen to feature one of Bamberger's in the prominent left-hand position of the pages.

"Oh, lead letter?" Mr De Landelles says to her.

"I've only had that a few times," Ms Bamberger said, obviously pleased.

Mr De Landelles says he once had a letter published in the Australian Financial Review, which inspired an accompanying cartoon. "So I bought the cartoon," he said.

"Oh, that's the ultimate," Mr White said, with a laugh.

Mr White, 70, is a retired registered nurse, originally from Ireland (The 'M" is for Michael, no surprises there). He has been writing letters to the Times for about 25 years mostly about health and social issues and "inequity in the system".

"I know that I can't address it but I think that it's important to get the question out there. To get people to think," he said.

Mr White reckons more space should be given to the letters.

"And I really resent this – politicians actually using up space in the letters pages. They have so many other opportunities to express their thoughts and ideas," he said.

Mr De Landelles, is communications manager for the Economic Development Directorate and husband of Labor MLA Mary Porter. He has also been an adviser to then chief minister Jon Stanhope.

He says because of his background, he doesn't write on local issues, focusing on national concerns. That often means criticism of the Coalition, but he does not exclude the Labor Party from his scrutiny, including one recent letter suggesting leader Bill Shorten lacked "gravitas".

And his letters do provoke a response.

"If I haven't written for a while people ask, 'Where have you been?'," he said.

Originally from the US, Ms Bamberger started living in Canberra in late 2000 and wrote her first letter to the editor in 2002, challenging then-immigration minister Philip Ruddock on his assessment that Afghanistan was generally safe for most of its residents.

She got her next two letters published as well.

"For me, getting three out of my three letters published, it became addictive," she said.

The management consultant says there is a fine art to getting her words into the newspaper

"I found my writing got a lot better trying to squeeze big amorphous thoughts into 100 to 250 words and that helped me to crystallise a lot of issues too," she said.

"If I'm going to make a claim, I try very, very hard to research it. People laugh at me and say, 'Hey, it's just a letter to the editor'. But if I'm going to make a claim about someone else or something else I feel very strongly that for my human integrity, as well as my professional integrity, I need to verify my sources.

"The other thing I've been doing more and more is trying to practice what I preach. I've been getting fed up with the venomous way politicians speak to each other, speak about each other. They fight the person, they don't fight the issue. So I'm trying to be more conscious of that in my letters and practice the so-called non-violent communication. And some times I'm more successful than others.

There's always been a bit of argy-bargy between writers to the letters pages.

Ric Hingee, of Duffy, has worked in the media, public relations and parliamentary liaison for federal departments, and has often butted heads with other writers.

"I only write letters about things I actually know about, keep them as brief and succinct as possible and make sure I research my subject properly," Mr Hingee said..

"Some people do not appreciate what I have to say and will attack me without actually knowing anything of my background."

One of Mr Hingee's most famous feuds was with the late Vic Adams, who took issue with Mr Hingee's role in setting up the Community Alliance Party in a bid to oust Jon Stanhope at the 2008 election.

In 2009, Mr Adams was outed as a staffer for Labor senator Kate Lundy by her Liberal counterpart Gary Humphries and had to resign after writing letters calling for several public service chiefs to be sacked.

Mr Humphries at the time suggested Ian De Landelles was also sailing close to the wind writing letters critical of the then Howard government without declaring his political affiliation.

Mr De Landelles this week said he's been a Labor member for almost 50 years and made no secret of it. He doesn't believe people should have to declare their political party membership every time they write a letter.

"I think people would automatically assume I had a political allegiance. I think it's very evident in the topics and tones from the letters what their views might be," she said.

"I don't think it necessarily matters, your views don't change if you're a member or not a member. Your views are your views."

R.S. Gilbert, for one,doesn't mind the banter.

"You'll be amazed by the number of people who say, 'I read your letter but I don't always agree with it'," he said.

"It's always good when someone writes back to a letter and says, 'Oh, I don't agree with that'. You don't get enough of that actually."

Gary J. Wilson (the J is for James), is a 68-year-old retired public servant, including with Defence. He wrote his first letter to the University of NSW's student newspaper Tharunka in the 1960s. He's continued to write to many publications since then.

Mr Wilson calls himself a polymath, writing across issues. And he says he doesn't need to wait to read the next day's paper to gauge a reaction to his letters.

"One time I was writing something critical, of all things, I can't understand, the AFP, [Australian Federal Police] and, of course, the happy hour at the local club has a regular school who drink there and they're all either ex-warrant officers or ex-coppers. Obviously, I got a very bad reception that day," he said, with a laugh.

Other letters to the editor writers are passionate about certain topics. Jack Kershaw, of Kambah, on planning, Sue Wareham, of Cook, on the impact of warfare. Mike O'Shaughnessy, of Spence, on animal rights. Jennie Goldie, of Michelago, on population control. Michael Attwell, of Dunlop, has never let the Labor Party and Jon Stanhope forget their broken promise from the 2004 election to build a dragway in the Majura Valley, continuing to remind them in the letters pages.

And, of course, there are always ex-public servants and the occasional retired mandarin sending missives from the coast.

Another regular writer, Annie Lang of Kambah, usually keeps her letters to a pointed sentence. The retired teacher is reluctant to say too much about herself, preferring her letters do the talking – and venting.

"I just feel so frustrated about so many issues at the moment," she said.

John Passant, also of Kambah, has been "a socialist since I was 16, radicalised by the Vietnam War". He's a member of Solidarity and retired assistant commissioner in the Australian Tax Office.

"My guess too, thinking about it, is that my published letters number up to a thousand. Thirty a year for 36 years," he said. "I was freed up to write letters to the editor when I left the ATO in 1988 and joined the ANU School of Law in 1989. I am assuming some of the Hawke or Keating government's tax changes or perhaps attacks on unions – the pilots for example – may have initially prompted me to write."

There is little doubt the Times' letters writers cover a rich and varied background.

Sam Nona writes from Buradoo in the Southern Highlands. Now 72, he's a lecturer at the University of NSW teaching neuroscience to optometry students. He was born in northern Iraq and moved to Britain when he was 17 after he won a scholarship to study in Manchester. His favoured topics to write about, not surprisingly, are science and Middle Eastern politics.

"I tend to show off a bit that I know a bit about them," he said, with a laugh.

All the writers would like to get more of their letters published. Mr White said he'd written 80 letters since April, sometimes three a day, but had only five or six letters published.

He says it can be dispiriting not to be published but enthusiasm returns once one does make it to the paper.

Mr White pretty much sums up the concern of all the contributors to the community conversation that is the letters page.

"The important thing is having your voice heard," he said.