All those authors there, most of whom of course I've never met. That's the poetry side, that's the prose side, that's the fishing and miscellaneous behind me. You get an affection for books that you've enjoyed.

Anybody who writes doesn't like to be misunderstood.

I don't think of myself all the time.

If I wrote a play with four characters every single one of them would talk like me regardless of age or sex.

I just didn't want to shoot other people.

Well, I love fishing. I wouldn't kill a fly myself but I've no hesitation in killing a fish. A lot of men are like that. No bother. Out you come. Thump. And that's not the only reason.

I was very interested in American poetry for many years. Much less now.