What I adore is mixing the unexpected, things you don't imagine should go together

I learned from books that I picked up. That was something that just came out of nowhere but continued to be an attraction. So there was a continuum of my interest in the arts and involvement in creating that was strong enough that it later blossomed into much more.

At school there were some programs in music. I did take piano lessons, and we had a piano at home. I got very interested in that.

Many people look but they do not see.

There was a certain amount of discipline, I think; my parents wanted to be sure that I was not just sitting around doing nothing.

Being born in '31 was during the Depression and in my earlier youth World War II took place - so it was not the best of times, and yet I don't recall ever having experiences that were a burden.

At one point I had dreams of being in the school band, but I didn't play an instrument that qualified me, and that was a problem. I always had fantasies to be part of that, but I did take my piano lessons quite seriously.