There was a price to be paid for being interested in fiction and in writing, pushing my family away. Books and authors became my family.

It's important for survival that children have their own experiences, the kind they learn from. The kind their parents arrange for are not as useful. Good parents are the hardest to get rid of.

This is Democratic bedrock: we don't let people lie in the ditch and drive past and pretend not to see them dying. Here on the frozen tundra of Minnesota, if your neighbor's car won't start, you put on your parka and get the jumper cables out and deliver the Sacred Spark that starts their car. Everybody knows this. The logical extension of this spirit is social welfare and the myriad government programs with long dry names all very uninteresting to you until you suddenly need one.

All solutions are temporary, so why not go for duct tape?

It is a sin to believe evil of others but it is seldom a mistake.

There was a price to be paid for being interested in fiction and in writing, pushing my family away. Books and authors became my family.

You don't have to justify a beautiful stroke of good luck. Accept it. Smile and say thank you.