My Parents Encouraged Me In Everything I

I Saw How Many People Were Poor And How Many Kids My Age Went To School Hungry In The Morning, Which I Don't Think Most Of My Contemporaries In Racially Segregated Schools In The South Thought Very Much About At The Time.

I Wasn't A Very Discriminating Reader. I Read Just About Everything That Came Along.

It Was So Much Fun To Have The Freedom To Wander America, With No Assignments. For 25 Or 30 Years I Never Had An Assignment. These Were All Stories I Wanted To Do Myself.

I Remember Being In The Public Library And My Jaw Just Aching As I Looked Around At All Those Books I Wanted To Read. There Just Wasn't Time Enough To Read Everything I Wanted To Read.

Rivers Run Through Our History And Folklore, And Link Us As A People. They Nourish And Refresh Us And Provide A Home For Dazzling Varieties Of Fish And Wildlife And Trees And Plants Of Every Sort. We Are A Nation Rich In Rivers.