I believe that writing is derivative. I think good writing comes from good reading.

I think all those people I did stories about measured their own success by the joy their work was giving them.

You know, most reporters can't go back to the towns they wrote stories about. I never wrote that kind of story.

I can't remember a time when I didn't want to be a reporter. I don't know where I got the idea that it was a romantic calling.

The first books I was interested in were all about baseball. But I can't think of one single book that changed my life in any way.

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.

What you need for breakfast, they say in East Tennessee, is a jug of good corn liquor, a thick steak and a hound dog. Then you feed the steak to the dog.