Writing is no dying art form in America because most published writers here accept the wisdom and the necessity of encouraging the talent that follows in their footsteps.

In general science journalism concerns itself with what has been published in a handful of peer-reviewed journals - Nature Cell The New England Journal of Medicine - which set the agenda.

Well - I started writing - probably in the early 60s and by say '65-'66 I had read most of the poetry that had been published - certainly in the 20 years prior to that.

Well I like to write poetry. I'm a published poet.

That's a wonderful change that's taken place and so most poetry today is published if not directly by the person certainly by the enterprise of the poet himself working with his friends.

I published privately a collection of my serious poetry I had written over the years. I only published 50 copies which I gave to friends in a special deluxe edition. It was ridiculously expensive but I'm glad that I did it.

I had art as a major along with English French and History. I had dance modern dance. In English I was allowed to write my own poetry which I eventually got published.

I wrote some bad poetry that I published in North African journals but even as I withdrew into this reading I also led the life of a kind of young hooligan.

I enjoy about 1 out of 100 movies it's about the same proportion to books published that I care to read.

So the news that divorced fathers are to be denied a legal right to a relationship with their children in the long overdue review of family law published this week fills me with horror and despair.