When the Smoot-Hawley bill landed on President Herbert Hoover's desk, more than 1,000 economists urged him to veto it. Tragically, the president ignored their pleas.
The deadlines are much, much longer with books. When I was a reporter, a lot of times I'd come in at 8:30 a.m., get an assignment right away, interview somebody, turn the story in by 9:30, and have the finished story in the paper that landed on my desk by noon.
Depending on what I'm working on, I come to the writing desk with entirely different mindsets. When I change form one to the other, it's as if another writer is on the scene.
On gym days, I don't get to my desk until 4 in the afternoon, and everything except bedtime and the appointment with the liquid narcotic is pushed back a bit.
Insights don't usually arrive at my desk, but go into notebooks when I'm on the move. Or half-asleep.
When I'm the happiest, my desk is not neat. It has lots of pens and the books I love. It gets messy when I'm in the flow. So many houses are so neat.
My father was the editor of an agricultural magazine called 'The Southern Planter.' He didn't think of himself as a writer. He was a scientist, an agronomist, but I thought of him as a writer because I'd seen him working at his desk. I just assumed that I was going to do that, that I was going to be a writer.
Tacked above my desk are photos of artists I admire - Hopper, Sargent, Twain - and postcards from beloved bookstores where I've spent all my time and money - Tattered Cover, Elliot Bay, Harvard Bookstore.
During the day, if I don't have any other commitments, I'm usually at my desk writing, revising, or researching anywhere from four to six hours.
The way in which you carry yourself, even when seated at a desk, matters.
Suppose Watergate had not been uncovered? I'd still be on the City Desk.
Happiness is a very small desk and a very big wastebasket.
