Fiction gives us a second chance that life denies us.

I think I understand passion. Love is something else.

Unless there is a strong sense of place there is no travel writing, but it need not come from topographical description; dialogue can also convey a sense of place. Even so, I insist, the traveler invents the place. Feeling compelled to comment on my travel books, people say to me, "I went there"---China, India, the Pacific, Albania-- "and it wasn't like that." I say, "Because I am not you.

The traveler's boast, sometimes couched as a complaint, is that of having been an eyewitness, and invariably this experience - shocking though it may seem at the time - is an enrichment, even a blessing, one of the life-altering trophies of the road.

I cannot make my days longer so I strive to make them better.

Maine is a joy in the summer. But the soul of Maine is more apparent in the winter.

Fiction gives us a second chance that life denies us.