Because of my capacity for listening to strangers' tales, or the details of their lives, my patience with their food and their crotchets, my curiosity that borders on nosiness, I am told that anyone traveling with me experiences an unbelievable tedium, and this is why I choose to travel alone.

The job of the travel writer is to go far and wide, to make voluminous notes, to tell the truth.

The people I've known who've done great things of that type - you know, building hospitals, running schools - are very humble people. They give their lives to the project.

When I left Africa in 1966 it seemed to me to be a place that was developing, going in a particular direction, and I don't think that is the case now. And it's a place where people still kid themselves - you know, in a few years this will happen or that will happen. Well, it's not going to happen. It's never going to happen.

If you run a business that isn't cutting edge or doesn't naturally stick out of the crowd, it's your job to be different and get attention.

I call Algonquin Books 'the gods and goddesses of publishing.' Not only did they give me a career, they care deeply about every writer in their flock.

The notion of overnight stardom is really dangerous. For almost every person who has success in this business, there are years and years of hard work to get there. To have longevity, you really have to train, and you really have to work.

People who rooted for me and were impactful in my career knew everything about me. They knew my goals, my likes, my dislikes, what I wanted out of my career.