I always wanted to write for children. When I was growing up, we were really poor. My mother had left, and it was all a mess. So I lived in my head a lot, and I would get lots of books for Christmas - from librarians and teachers - and they just fed my imagination.

To me, the pinnacle of my career is writing for youth. I can die happy: I have succeeded in doing what I have always wanted to do.

Diversity in books is a civil rights frontier.

I was born in a ghetto on the North Side of Pittsburgh. I was born as Emmett Till was dying and the civil rights era was being born.

My background is in biology. Before getting into the family business, I worked at the Predatory Bird Research Group at the University of California at Santa Cruz, fundraising for them.

Marvel actually sent me to a school in the Bronx where I had a fake name, and I put on an accent, and I went for, like, three days. I basically had to go to this science school and blend in with all the kids, and some of the teachers didn't even know.

I'm very proud of the Rome episode of 'No Reservations' because it violated all the conventional wisdom about making television. You're never, ever supposed to do a food or travel show in black and white.

I tend to pack light but still keep a large bag because I love to shop. For each destination I travel to, I like to buy something that the country or city is known for such as olive oil, truffle, jewelry, etc. I also like to buy perfumes because the smell brings me back to the memory of my travels.