I continued to protect him with my silence.

I had known there had been a serial killer on Mount Tamalpais, and it felt so incongruous in such a beautiful, peaceful spot.

Some literary types subscribe to the notion that being a writer like Salinger entitles a person to remain free of the standards that might apply to mere mortals.

[On home births:] In a house where there had been three people, there were now four, although no one had come in the door.

Imagine if you succeeded in making the world perfect for your children what a shock the rest of life would be for them.

My job is writing. I get paid to do it. When was the last time you heard someone challenge a doctor for making money off of cancer?

It's not only children who grow. Parents do too. As much as we watch to see what our children do with their lives, they are watching us to see what we do with ours. I can't tell my children to reach for the sun. All I can do is reach for it, myself.