When you live under the power of terror and segregation you can't ever start a work of art.

The term 'genre' eventually becomes pejorative because you're referring to something that's so codified and ritualised that it ceases to have the power and meaning it had when it first started.

I have long been a supporter of the Head Start program because each and every year I witness the dramatic positive impact that early intervention services have on children's lives in my congressional district.

I had a great first year and Mr. MacDonald was my biggest supporter. He gave me the encouragement I needed that first year to get my career started on a positive note.

What I really like is an intelligent review. It doesn't have to be positive. A review that has some kind of insight and sometimes people say something that's startling or is so poignant.

Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones you'll start having positive results.

I was totally absorbed in the real world the politics the history the news and I just couldn't find my way into the fictional world... When I finally could return to writing the novel it was in fits and starts.

I'm not really one of those people who believes that if you're a musician you can just leave that behind and start getting into politics.

About 25 years ago I started out as a reporter covering politics. And that sort of just evolved into organized crime because organized crime and politics were the same thing in Boston.

You know I started my career in politics in 1967. I'm not new to this. I did not just fall off the Christmas tree. I understand the world is complex. I know that there are people out there who want to hurt other people.