When I was growing up, there were no women in orchestras. Auditioners thought they could tell the difference between a woman playing and a man. Some intelligent person devised a simple solution: Drop a curtain between the auditioners and the people trying out. And, lo and behold, women began to get jobs in symphony orchestras.

My mother told me two things constantly. One was to be a lady and the other was to be independent, and the law was something most unusual for those times because for most girls growing up in the '40s, the most important degree was not your B.A. but your M.R.S.

I was tremendously fortunate to be alive and a lawyer, working at a university so I had more flexible hours, when the women's movement was coming alive and when it became possible to argue successfully for a view of the equal protection clause that included women.

The concern was that if a woman was doing gender equality, her chances of making it to tenure in the law school were diminished. It was considered frivolous.

Since so many romantic comedies vary little in their storyline, the success or failure of such movies depends largely on whether we believe in the relationship of the protagonists.

I don't want to get into a debate. I have never talked about my first marriage for that reason. I don't think it would be fair to my daughter. I don't think it would be fair to my second wife. That's the past.

In my heart, I really don't care who you love, same sex or not; as long as you have the ability to love, that's the important thing here.

I've been through a marriage, and I'm still very fond of my ex-husband; but if I've learned anything, it's that relationships are about compromise.