I don't really think myself that sex work is necessarily more demeaning than other kinds of demeaning work.

In my books, my idea is always to explore social context and social forces.

I did not intend to be a writer. I first wanted to be a lawyer, like my father. Then I got bit by the bug of philosophy and wanted to be a philosophy professor. I went to graduate school and quickly discovered it was impossible for a woman in those days - this was the early fifties - to be a philosopher, so I gave that up.

Being alone for a woman is probably much more scary than for a man. I'm all for getting over our fears by facing them head-on.

One important part of historical recording is to get people of another generation to understand the feelings, the passion that went into social transformation. That's why oral history is so valuable.

For many decades my relations with my parents constituted unfinished business. I had dealt with them through sheer avoidance and guilt.

Everything is connected. There is no such thing as an island, especially in our world, global village, the whole thing. Pollution from way across the ocean circulates in the air.