Ever since I was a teenager I wanted to be a writer. But I didn’t think I had the talent. When I was in college Rod, an older cousin of mine who happened to be a senior editor at Newsweek Magazine, read an article I’d written for one of my classes.

He said it was very good, and I was a talented writer. I wondered if he was just saying that because we were close family. So I let it all go.… Read more