I think the last couple of years of life for many, many people are the same as they were 50, 60, 70 years ago. They could be really tough because of infirmity.

Poor kids are much more likely to become sick than their richer counterparts, but much less likely to have health insurance. Talk about a double whammy.

I think I'm like most novelists in that my books have gotten farther and farther away from autobiography the longer I've been writing them.

The clearest explanation for the failure of any marriage is that the two people are incompatible; that is, that one is male and the other female.

As I said, I had this fabulous college education. At college I met the man to whom I've been married for 34 years and who is the father of those three kids. I seriously considered going to another college, and my life would have been completely different in every way.

When you really want to say no, say no. You can't do everything - or at least not well.

There is a little boy inside the man who is my brother... Oh, how I hated that little boy. And how I love him too.