Anytime you see a turtle up on top of a fence post, you know he had some help.

Most of the things that are asked of me as a representative black person, would suggest never are we equal Americans.

My fondest hope is that 'Roots' may start black, white, brown, red, yellow people digging back for their own roots. Man, that would make me feel 90 feet tall.

Indeed optimists rather than defeatists have produced the results for which serious genealogical research is best known.

Your attitude is everything. Believe in yourself and trust your material. To be a successful writer, write every single day where you feel like it or not. Never, never give up, and the world will reward you beyond your wildest dreams.

Anytime you see a turtle up on top of a fence post, you know he had some help.

I tell younger writers that indeed it is devastating to be rejected. You feel like the bottom dropped out of your world.