“When I was a kid, I’d always wanted to be a writer. I even...

“When I was a kid, I’d always wanted to be a writer. I even made a go of it when I was younger. I moved to California in my twenties, and tried to make it work. I almost sold a screenplay. I traveled around a bunch, and worked odd jobs, but by the time I hit my thirties, I said: ‘That’s it.’ And I went into the insurance business. I worked for a wonderful company—the one with the duck. But September 11th really shook me up. A couple days before, I’d flown out of the same airport as one of the hijacked planes. I hadn’t written anything in seventeen years, but I thought: ‘Win, lose, or draw, I’ve got to try this one more time.’ So at the age of 51, I became a writer again.’”