When my parents first arrived there, North Dakota had just been admitted to the Union, and the country was still wild and harsh.

Night after night I could feel the chills go up and down my spine, they played so well.

I always worried I'd forget my lines or say the wrong words or the audience would laugh in the wrong places.

To be granted some kind of usable talent and to be able to use it to the fullest extent of which you are capable - this, to me, is a kind of joy that is almost unequaled.

The ones the listeners loved most of all in those early years were the four Lennon girls who became the whole nation's little sisters.

Conversation didn't seem necessary when I put the accordion down and swung some young lady around the floor.

Many times I wondered if I were truly carrying out God's plan for my life.