When in 1969 I became publisher of the 'Washington Post' as well as president of the company, my plate was fuller than ever. I had partly worked myself into the job but not, except for rare occasions, taken hold. I had acquired some sense of business but still relied on others more than most company presidents did.

The only way I can describe the extent of my anxiety is to say that I felt as if I were pregnant with a rock.

I tell the kids that, even in a childhood marked by despair and deprivation, I knew that no matter what happened, I still had my family, or at least the remnants of a family ripped apart by divorce and then glued back together in various odd arrangements through a series of ill- advised remarriages. It was good to know I had a solid foundation.

Everything is a narrative in life. I learned that early on as a reporter at the 'Washington Post.'

This morning in the Washington Post there was a statistic about how 85% of Americans are Christians.

Saying the Washington Post is just a newspaper is like saying Rasputin was just a country priest.