And that is why so many young people come to me for guidance, because they know I can understand their problems. And the weaker souls among us need encouragement. A lot of people just don't have it in them to get up after they've been knocked down. I remember when you made me play baseball against my will because I was afraid I would fail. We had a community and you were the leader, and now I am the leader of my own community.
Life is really very simple, it is only the attempts to communicate it that make it seem complex.
Henry Poirot is the young Bay Area sales manager for Ballantine Books, the company distributing Mirror at the End of the Road . Right off, they wanted to do my chart. Anyway, one thing led to another, and the three of us got together on a Saturday morning to play basketball. Afterwards, we went up to their house on Buena Vista for a coke, and they asked me what I thought of Mel's book. Well, I'm used to talking straight with people, and I thought we were on a friendly basis, so I told them in effect that I didn't think it was worth shit, although I'd promoted it to book store owners more than I ordinarily push a single book.