Men have looked upon the desert as barren land the free holding of whoever chose but in fact each hill and valley in it had a man who was its acknowledged owner and would quickly assert the right of his family or clan to it against aggression.

And when I was young my family was perfectly nice. I write a lot about it as you noticed. But it was rather limited. I think I don't think anyone in my family would really feel I'd done them an injustice by saying that. We didn't see many people. There were many books. It was as if I wanted to get away from home.

I was raised by a single mother who made a way for me. She used to scrub floors as a domestic worker put a cleaning rag in her pocketbook and ride the subways in Brooklyn so I would have food on the table. But she taught me as I walked her to the subway that life is about not where you start but where you're going. That's family values.

I'm surrounded by great friends and family. I don't know what I would do without them.

I would prefer to have no money but to have a nice family and good friends around.

I cannot remember a moment in my life when I have not felt the love of my family. We were a family that would have killed for each other - and we still are.

My family and I would never receive royalties on the revenue that my materials brought into the church materials that were created on our own personal time.

Happy or unhappy families are all mysterious. We have only to imagine how differently we would be described - and will be after our deaths - by each of the family members who believe they know us.

Where would you be without friends? The people to pick you up when you need lifting? We come from homes far from perfect so you end up almost parent and sibling to your friends - your own chosen family. There's nothing like a really loyal dependable good friend. Nothing.

So live that you wouldn't be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip.