I was a Navy officer writing about Navy problems and I simply stole this lovely Army nurse and popped her into a Navy uniform, where she has done very well for herself.

I had been educated with free scholarships. I went to nine different universities, always at public expense, and when you have that experience, you are almost obligated to give it back. It's as simple as that.

Only another writer, someone who had worked his heart out on a good book which sold three thousand copies, could appreciate the thrill that overcame me one April morning in 1973 when Dean Rivers of our small college in Georgia appeared at my classroom door

I love writing. I love the swirl and swing of words as they tangle with human emotions.

The arrogance of the artist is a very profound thing, and it fortifies you.

The job of a storyteller is to tell stories, and I have concentrated on that obligation.

A group of two dozen nurses completely surrounded by 100,000 unattached American men.