Every athlete learns by theft and mimicry.

She was one of those Southerners who knew from an early age that the South could never be more for them than a fragrant prison, administered by a collective of loving but treacherous relatives.

Her laughter was a shiny thing, like pewter flung high in the air.

We've pretended too much in our family, Luke, and hidden far too much. I think we're all going to pay a high price for our inability to face the truth.

Through sports a coach can offer a boy a secret way to sneak up on the mystery that is manhood.

Because she deserved my tears if anyone on earth ever did. I could feel the tears within me, undiscovered, and untouched in their inland sea. Those tears had been with me always.

I think I learned about the relationship between books and life from Margaret Mitchell.