I didn't actually get along with my dad when I was growing up, so by the time I was in my 20s, I didn't think I was going to be a writer.

In 'Sidney's Comet,' thanks to all the consumerism, all the garbage had to be put in deep space, even though we're not supposed to litter the cosmos - that was an environmental message. Although it was funny, it had an important message.

We moved 23 times before I was out of high school!

My dad was an adventurer, my mother a romantic. When they met in college, both were creative writers; the writing was a bond.

The framework for peace signed by Egypt and Israel is almost a peace treaty. We solved the problem for the peace treaty 98%.

The Civil War always moves me.

The present assault upon capital is but the beginning. It will be but a stepping-stone to others, larger and more sweeping, till our political contests will become a war of the poor against the rich.

I think it is rather heroic to go into a war zone where everyone is trying to kill you, and you have no way of shooting back.