The Fan Mail I Get From Kids

I Am Not A Religious Person, Nor Do I Have Any Regrets. The War Took Care Of That For Me. You Know, I Was Brought Up Strictly Kosher, But I - It Made No Sense To Me. It Made No Sense To Me What Was Happening. So Nothing Of It Means Anything To Me. Nothing. Except These Few Little Trivial Things That Are Related To Being Jewish. ... You Know Who My Gods Are, Who I Believe In Fervently? Herman Melville, Emily Dickinson - She's Probably The Top - Mozart, Shakespeare, Keats. These Are Wonderful Gods Who Have Gotten Me Through The Narrow Straits Of Life.

All I Liked To Do When I Was A Kid Was Draw. My Childhood Was Like My Adult Life: Drawing Pictures With My Brother, Putting The Comics Up On The Glass Window, And Tracing The Characters Onto Tracing Paper Or Drawing Paper And Then Coloring Them. That And Making Things Was All We Ever Did.

That Always Seemed To Be The Most Critical Test That A Child Was Confronted With - Loss Of Parents, Loss Of Direction, Loss Of Love. Can You Live Without A Mother And A Father?

We’ve Educated Children To Think That Spontaneity Is Inappropriate. Children Are Willing To Expose Themselves To Experiences. We Aren’t. Grownups Always Say They Protect Their Children, But They’re Really Protecting Themselves. Besides, You Can’t Protect Children. They Know Everything.

My Father Belonged To A Jewish Social Club.