The name Zahra was to have been lman's own name at birth, but a senior member of the family changed it to lman at the last minute.

An armchair Jungian would say the whole thing is about my own ongoing spiritual search. My interior life has always been one of trying to find a spiritual link, maybe because I'm from a family of separate religious philosophies: Protestant and Catholic.

It is amazing how a new child can refocus one's direction seconds after its birth.

People always think I'm Jewish and changed my last name from Rabinowitz.

When I'm stuck for a closing to a lyric, I will drag out my last resort: overwhelming illogic.

I've always regretted that I never was able to talk openly with my parents, especially with my father. I've heard and read so many things about my family that I can no longer believe anything; every relative I question has a completely different story from the last.