As southerners, we're taught to be respectful of other people's feelings. I would never intentionally say anything solely to hurt another person's feelings. I think my friends would say I'm a forgiving person, that I don't hold grudges. They'd say that I'm comfortable with who I am, that I am a calm, self-assured person. I do get riled, but I try not to let insignificant things upset me.
Life is too short.
I love the power of reporting and writing and editing. Even after doing it for 25 years, it thrills me. I have my high days of journalism peppered with some low ones, but overall it's still one of the best jobs in the world. It's the only one in which we can shape the way the world perceives people. I got into this business in 1975 because I wanted to tell a particular story.