I know how important it is to, you know, to be my own person.

My mother ... had a very deep inner spirituality that allowed her to rebuild her life. It's extraordinary that she had such a strong sense of self and such a commitment to the future and such a strong creative sense that she could build new worlds for herself and for us out of the total devastation in her life.

People don't always realize that my parents shared a sense of intellectual curiosity and a love of reading and of history.

I never thought I'd be doing poetry books. I never really studied poetry. But the first one I did was after my mother died, and I realized that people sort of think and talk about her style and fashion, but in fact, what made her the person she was was really her love of reading and ideas.

I have come to believe, more strongly than ever, that after people die they really do live on through those who love them.

I know how important it is to, you know, to be my own person.

Many people remember that spirit that President Kennedy summoned forth. Many people look to me as somebody who embodies that sense of possibility.