I Think You've Got To Play The

An English Journalist Called Michael Viney Told Me When I Was 25, That I Would Write Well If I Cared A Lot What I Was Writing About. That Worked. I Went Home That Day And Wrote About Parents Not Understanding Their Children As Well As We Teachers Did, And It Was Published The Very Next Week.

I Believed That Old People Never Laughed. I Thought They Sighed A Lot And Groaned. They Walked With Sticks, And They Didn't Like Children On Bicycles Or Roller Skates Or With Big Dogs.

My Mother Was A Trained Nurse, And She'd Tell Me That Patients Would Fight As They Were Administered Anaesthetic, Grappling To Get The Gas Mask Off Their Face.

I Have Always Believed That Life Is Too Short For Rows And Disagreements. Even If I Think I'm Right, I Would Prefer To Apologize And Remain Friends Rather Than Win And Be An Enemy.

You're Much More Believable If You Talk In Your Own Voice.