The pattern of a newspaperman's life is like the plot of 'Black Beauty.' Sometimes he finds a kind master who gives him a dry stall and an occasional bran mash in the form of a Christmas bonus sometimes he falls into the hands of a mean owner who drives him in spite of spavins and expects him to live on potato peelings.

I don't think I ever got the hang of the writers' room. I love collaborating with people but I really do my best work alone and I think I would want to - if I did something again I think I'd want to take total ownership the way Aaron Sorkin or David Kelley does.

My parents got married late and they had kids late so I never felt a social or cultural thing to be married or pregnant or a homeowner by a certain age.