You can't travel the back roads very long without discovering a multitude of gentle people doing good for others with no expectation of gain or recognition. The everyday kindness of the back roads more than makes up for the acts of greed in the headlines. Some people out there spend their whole lives selflessly.

The love of family and the admiration of friends is much more important than wealth and privilege.

I'm not any kind of social reformer.

I think the feature reporter often walks a very thin line between a truly human story and one that slops over into mushiness or sentimentality.

My parents encouraged me in everything I ever wanted to do.

I gained a great appreciation for what I would call the collective achievement of the country. I began thinking of America as a much more just and humane place than I would have thought if I'd been covering the civil rights struggle.

The everyday kindness of the back roads more than makes up for the acts of greed in the headlines.