I don't believe that there is any particular book that influenced any 'career' I might have.

When you grow up with a mother who has to wash dishes and clean hotel rooms, you know the importance of having a job, and you can't be without a job for any length of time, or you will be without anything.

It just so happens that I was born and raised in Washington. Had I been born in Chicago or San Antonio, the streets and places would have figured into whatever I wrote. Just so happens that it's Washington, D.C.

In the summer of 1964, my sister and I went to South Ballston, Virginia, to stay with my aunt and her kids. They passed the civil rights bill that summer; my cousins were so happy because now they could swim in the pool.

I think the environmental problem will be the number one item on the agenda of the 21st century... This is a problem that cannot be postponed.

Businesses and governments need to work together and make a joint commitment if we want to address climate change effectively and quickly.

Maybe this isn't a common thought that goes through one's mind when considering children, but I think about the ramifications of climate change and how the extreme weather conditions will only get worse as we keep drilling for oil and fracking for natural gas. Do I want to bring a little human into that mix?

No one is more keen than me to see the Hunting Act repealed, because I believe in the management of wildlife.