Without Passion, The Powers-that-be Can Run Roughshod

My Parents Used To Park Us Kids At The Public Library In Downtown Honolulu Every Saturday. They'd Leave Us There At 8 A.m. And Pick Us Up At 4 P.m. - So Between Those Hours, You'd Better Find Something To Do! I Sat Upstairs In The Picture Room And Went Through Opera, Ballet, And Theater Books. I Loved The Photographs Of People Wearing Elaborate Makeup And Costumes - They Really Pulled At Me Inside. I Was In That Library Every Week For Years, Until I Was About 13. I Had A Rich Interior Life, Because I Didn't Have Much Of A Social Life.

I've Always Said That People Have Unrealistic Expectations.

One Of My First Role Models Was Eugene Lang, A Wealthy Businessman Who Went Back To His Elementary School In East Harlem And Addressed The Sixth-grade Class. He Looked Out At That Sea Of Faces And Said, "if Any Of You Wants To Go To College, I Will Pay For It." When I Read That, I Burst Into Tears. It Was So Generous And So Basic. Not Fluffy. I Can't Understand Why We Scrimp On Education And Shortchange Our Kids. Why Would The Citizenry Do That To The People Who Are Going To Inherit Its Republic?

In A Marriage, You Struggle And Struggle And Struggle, And Then You Realize That You Have To Ride The Horse In The Direction It's Going. You Stop Trying To Pull The Reins In Another Direction.

Thank God For The Gays. I Don't Know What Would Have Happened But I Know What Did Happen. Good For Them And Good For Me.