My parents were liberal intellectuals but even they expected me to stay at home and look after my younger siblings and do the housework.

I realised I'd never climb Everest but thought I could still write a book

I have a friend who lives in the South Side of Chicago. I helped out at a church charity there where they try to give a bit of cohesion to a desperate area. Everyone was very welcoming

I'm a grandmother, and a mighty proud one.

When you feel lousy, puppy therapy is indicated.

I look at the great poets of the Soviet Union, like Anna Akhmatova, who endured far worse then anything we've seen or hopefully that we will ever see. If they could keep writing and keep a voice alive, keep people hopeful through their poetry, then I would be ashamed to stop and to give in. It would be really self-indulgent, unacceptable, and inexcusable to walk away from it.

People have less privacy and are crammed together in cities, but in the wide open spaces they secretly keep tabs on each other a lot more