Rivers run through our history and folklore, and link us as a people. They nourish and refresh us and provide a home for dazzling varieties of fish and wildlife and trees and plants of every sort. We are a nation rich in rivers.

I wasn't a very discriminating reader. I read just about everything that came along.

It was so much fun to have the freedom to wander America, with no assignments. For 25 or 30 years I never had an assignment. These were all stories I wanted to do myself.

I don't think I had a reputation as a hard worker, but inside I was always being eaten up by the pressures.

We always take credit for the good and attribute the bad to fortune.

It does no harm just once in a while to acknowledge that the whole country isn't in flames, that there are people in the country besides politicians, entertainers, and criminals.

A true Southerner will never say in 2-3 words what can better be said in 10-12.