After my mom died, there was so much written about her fashion and her style and all that, and I felt that one of the most important parts of her was missing, her real intellectual curiosity.

There's so much to think about when you're becoming an adult, and there's so many great poems about that apprehension and excitement.

Going into politics is something people have asked me about forever.

It is not easy to stand up against your constituents or your friends or colleagues or your community and take a tough stand for something you believe is right. Because you always want to keep working and live to fight another battle and it might cost you your career.

Change isn't easy, it takes time.

Poetry is really a way of sharing feelings and ideas.

I feel that my father's greatest legacy was the people he inspired to get involved in public service and their communities, to join the Peace Corps, to go into space. And really that generation transformed this country in civil rights, social justice, the economy and everything.