Maybe at 20 you can write well, but I don't think you could do what I do. Some things have to happen to you first.

Today, much of journalism and politics are in a kind of collusion to oversimplify and personalize issues. No room for ambivalence. Plenty of room for the personal attack.

instant opinion is an oxymoron. You don't get real opinions in an instant. You get reactions.

There's a trick to the Graceful Exit. It begins with the vision to recognize when a job, a life stage, a relationship is over - and to let go. It means leaving what's over without denying its validity or its past importance in our lives.

Parents remain our touchstones, fellow travelers, even after death. They are both missing and present.

You can believe in women's rights without believing that every woman is right.

Saving time, it seems, has a primacy that's too rarely examined.