I am a writer, a professional journalist with serious credentials in Crime, Craziness, and Politics. I have mingled with dangerous criminals and attended many trials . . . from Hell's Angels, Black Panthers and Chicano street fighters to Roxanne Pulitzer and even Richard Nixon, back in the good old days before he was run out of the White House for fraud, perjury, graft, and criminal negligence.

All the blood is drained out of democracy - it dies - when only half the population votes.

A little bit of this town goes a very long way. After five days in Vegas you feel like you've been here for five years.

I felt a tremendous distance between myself and everything real.

The reason most people play golf is to wear clothes they would not be caught dead in otherwise.

One of the few ways I can almost be certain I'll understand something is by sitting down and writing about it. Because by forcing yourself to write about it and putting it down in words, you can't avoid having your say on the subject. You might be wrong, but you have to think about it very intensely to write about it.

My greatest talent is in my ability to choose good friends. It's about as important as things get.