He [my father] didn't have a basement workshop as such, but I know that he did build things, construct things, repair things. My mother, likewise, was sewing and doing activities that often take place in a household.

In a social studies class I did a paper on the history of Attica, which ended up being a little book that I created.

Maybe that's what I've based my career on: getting up earlier than everyone else so I get an extra couple of hours.

I was always kind of naïve, and really needed to be given some direction.

My parents never prevented me from doing anything, but they didn't have the knowledge of the arts that Mrs. Ranger had.

Great stories happen all around you every day. At the time they’re happening, you don’t think of them as stories. You probably don’t think about them at all. You experience them. You enjoy them. You learn from them. You’re inspired by them. They only become stories if someone is wise enough to share them. That’s when a story is born.

Charles Burchfield would look at what you were working on and not say anything for several minutes. Then he would very sensitively respond - "Well, have you thought about?" or "Might you consider?" I respected that so much because I thought he was so sensitive to my work, and didn't want to offend me, but in the right way to encourage me.