The least likely of military leaders, Joan of Arc changed the course of the Hundred Years' War and of history.

For years, the place I really lived - the world I watched, the one I thought and wrote about - was 15th-century France.

I have at last admitted that not only was I angry with my mother, but, in fact, I wanted to destroy her as a child. And I was so concerned to be a woman who was different from my mother that I had this vast architecture of rules.

I was the good girl who never needed disciplining, who made straight A's. I applied and was accepted to Stanford University.

I was a dancer from a young age. My parents were dancers; we were taken to a lot of ballet as children. It occurred to me that what I liked more than dancing the steps was acting the story of whatever particular performance I was taking part in.

It's certainly possible to live on a SNAP budget, but it's impossible to feed yourself or your family healthy, nutritious food.

At best the family teaches the finest things human beings can learn from one another generosity and love. But it is also, all too often, where we learn nasty things like hate, rage and shame.

Love Story' is actually about a guy that I almost dated. But when I introduced him to my family and my friends, they all said they didn't like him. All of them!