The happiest years of my mother's life were spent in Washington, D.C. It was where she met my father, where John was born and where I spent my earliest years.

To the extent that we are all educated and informed, we will be more equipped to deal with the gut issues that tend to divide us.

We need a President who is not afraid of complexity, who believes in an open and tolerant society, and who knows that the world can be made new again - and that President is Al Gore.

After my mother died in 1994, my brother and I were faced with the task of deciding what to do with her possessions, and after careful consideration, we sold some of them in 1996. In the intervening years, and the death of my brother, I found myself again with more houses and belongings than I could possibly use or enjoy.

The press is coming up against something that is very fragile, and that is personal and individual solitude and dignity.