New Yorkers, by reputation, are fast-talking, assertive and easily annoyed; I fit right in.

I've always had a lot of ambivalence about fame and celebrity.

The most likely moment for something incredible to happen to me was the moment I was most certain nothing ever would.

I have been fiercely private, in part because I could never understand how a journalist could be otherwise. I was also the mother of small children, and security concerns were paramount.

My son has been known to throw a book at the television set when he called for me to come play and I was obviously busy in the box. But I'm told that children of television performers grow up thinking that all mommies or daddies work on TV and that it's no big deal.

About the time I turned 50, I experienced the profound biological change that often accompanies women at that age. Also, I put two kids in college and lost both of my parents, so I'm no longer somebody's daughter.

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