Styron

I believe that I have a letter from Styron, complaining that he didn't receive a booklet he was supposed to get for subscribing to Fact magazine. The booklet was about circumcision. I have letters from Stravinsky, complaining about the inaccuracy of Time magazine; T.S. Eliot, regretting that some of his poetry seems antisemitic....

Going to Israel on a press trip on Monday, for 8 days. With several journalists from Jewish publications. I'm a little intimidated. They know Hebrew, they know Israel. Unlike me. They are probably religious; I'm secular. But by this time, I have probably learned how to write....

I should write about the time I left the Bergen Record. "Now it can be told."...

This weekend I have three articles to write! When I write hastily, alas, I make mistakes... One Friday, one Saturday, one Sunday...and pack for my trip next week!...

God, I hope the Republicans get smashed. They deserve it. I'm proud of myself for having mailed in an absentee ballot.... How depressing, two more years of Bush, in any case. Is he the worst US president in history?...

Some of my friends are retired, living by the ocean. But that's not for me. Getting up in the morning, not knowing what I will be doing that day. As I say, I need three compliments before lunch every day. And I'm not going to get them lolling on the beach....