When I first got to Nashville, somebody said that [Kris Kristofferson and I] were the only two people who could describe Dolly Parton without using their hands.

I have my own religion. I'm sort of one-quarter Baptist, one-quarter Catholic, one-quarter Jewish.

I was well traveled, and I created this illusion of literacy through reading and writing. I wrote a book of short stories.

When you retire, it's a place in life, a part of the journey. You just don't quit work; you develop an attitude where you can do what you please

I had the notion that I wanted to write the great dirty American novel, so I went to Roanoke College on the GI Bill.

It is so important for me to try, and having tried I look back on failure and success as if it were all the same.

I am a fan of history.