I have spoken to expert audiences occasionally, but then no audience is expert over the whole range of things I want to explore.

The ancient Greek "oral poets" all had this anxiety about the deficiencies of their memories and always began poems by praying to the muse to help them remember.

When my mother left her second husband, she wrote her autobiography and presented it to him for his approval.

I reserve the right to tell shaggy dog stories or even common jokes as part of what I'm doing. I don't give a damn if half the audience walks out.

Children frequently sing meaningful phrases to themselves over and over again before they learn to make a distinction between singing and saying.

I wanted to be an inventor, whatever I thought that meant then. I guess I was thinking of Edison or maybe James Watt. Or maybe even Newton.

My mother turned into a professional widow. She couldnt understand why I wanted to be an engineer; she thought I should be a chicken farmer.