As a young boy I read 'Cheaper by the Dozen' and immediately became neurotic about my use of time. It taxed me severely but only for the next 50 years. But I think it also allowed me to discipline myself to sit in the chair and be a writer where one of the most needed qualities is patience.

That's why I never became a director. I never had patience with people.

Music became a healer for me.

I became a set designer for opera. I'm a great opera buff I love classical music and I needed a time-out.

I became interested in folk music because I had to make it somehow.

By going to the movies and because of other things too going to college making a wide variety of friends moving around traveling I became a lot more open-minded than the heritage I was born into might have suggested.

Bill Bennett really became an idol for me. I listened to him every morning from 6 to 9 for oh years.

I think it's good that I had some experience of the real world before I became successful. You know having to get up in the morning and going to work in construction.

'Good Morning America' exploited Joan Lunden's pregnancy but you won't see me bringing my babies on the air. The only reason I'm talking about the babies at all is that they've been with me on the show since I became pregnant. After a while I had to acknowledge this pumpkin tummy.

Early in the morning I fell in love with the girl that later on became my wife. At that time we were so naive. I wanted to charm her so I read her Capital by Marx. I thought somehow she would be convinced by the strength of his criticism about capital.