From the time I was ten, I thought of myself as 'good with words,' thanks to a perceptive and supportive fifth grade teacher.

Lauren (Mitchell) has been a good player ever since I first saw her in the fifth grade. She's just way ahead for age, and she does everything.

I have earned wages as a waitress, a nanny, a librarian, a personnel officer, an agricultural laborer, an advertising secretary, a typesetter, a proofreader, a mental-health-care provider, a substitute teacher, and a book reviewer. In and around the edges of all those jobs I have written poems, stories, and books, books, books.

He felt weighted down by guilt and regret for what might have been his last words to all of them.

I thought we did a good job, especially playing without them (Hill and Roberts) for the first time. We handled the pressure better than I thought we would.

Time is a teacher.