The Facts of Life

When I was 7 or 8, my somewhat older brother, Roger, told me the facts of life.

I knew it was a lie.

I told my grandmother what Roger had said -- to Roger's mortification. My grandmother seemed upset.

I went to our bookcase and read the chapter on Reproduction in Morris Fishbein's Home Medical Adviser.

Son of a gun, Roger had it right.

Thirty years late, I am working as a writer for Medical World News. The editor in chief is Morris Fishbein.

He rarely comes to our office in Manhattan, but when he does, I mosey over to him. And tell him that he once explained to me the facts of life.

He laughed appreciatively. Over the years, he said, hundreds of young men have told him that.