You Cannot Live This Life Anymore Without

If What I Read Doesn't Reflect My Life - Whether I'm Gay Or Latino Or On Welfare - Doesn't That Really Mean That My Life Is Not Valuable?

Fifty Percent Of All Meaningful Education Takes Place In The Home. What Do You Share With Your Child? You Share Your Interests. I Was A Book Person. I Read With My Son. My Wife Is An Artist. She Dragged His Little Butt Around To Museums. He's An Illustrator Of Children's Books.

I Had Seen The Ballet Of Swan Lake As A Child But It Was As An Adult, When I Saw A Production Featuring Erik Bruhn, That I First Noticed How Significant A Part The Ever-present Threat Of Violence Played. This Juxtaposition Of Great Beauty And Grace With A Backdrop Of Pure Evil Stayed With Me For Years.

It Is This Language Of Values Which I Hope To Bring To My Books. . . . I Want To Bring Values To Those Who Have Not Been Valued, And I Want To Etch Those Values In Terms Of The Ideal. Young People Need Ideals Which Identify Them, And Their Lives, As Central . . . Guideposts Which Tell Them What They Can Be, Should Be, And Indeed Are.

With My Writing, What I Want To Do Is Humanize The Young People I Write About.