Los Angeles was an impression of failure, of disappointment, of despair, and of oddly makeshift lives. This is California? I thought.

Except for me, no one in my family could draw.

What about Mickey Mouse? Disney tried very hard to make him a star. But Mickey Mouse is more of a symbol than a real character.

Among the great glories of the MGM lot were the vast outdoor sets that had been constructed over the years.

My marriage had been impulsive. That marriage should have been short-lived instead of the 23 years it spanned.

Despite the rejection, and in violation of all the rules, I came back year after year.

There is no law that says a man who earned a hundred million dollars in his first half-dozen years on the job has to be a decent human being, but Mike Eisner is that and more.