And I see the - you know, when I go to the juvenile detention centers and prisons, I see people who can't read now. And I know that when they leave those prisons and those detention centers, they're not going to be able to make it in our society.

Reading is not optional.

I wrote for magazines. I wrote adventure stuff, I wrote for the 'National Enquirer,' I wrote advertising copy for cemeteries.

But now, like a fallen sparrow On a golden chain, I'm forever bound in shadow, A prisoner to my pain.

My life is not packaged, Not tidy. There are leftover strands and jagged Edges that cut even my friends.

Sometimes when things get hard, we tend to set our sights on what's hard, that difficult thing that keeps us upset, and we turn our back on our strengths.

Each time I think there is no place lower to go, I find that there is at least one place that will mess you up worse than you were.