Americans used to vote for the candidates they liked the most. Now, they vote against the person they hate the most. This is a tragedy for America, the world and for me personally. My father immigrated to America from a small town in Russia. He explained the greatness of America in one anecdote. In the small village where he was raised, the roads were not paved. After the winter snows melts, the streets were muddy and filthy. If someone fell in the muck, the townspeople would

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of time, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair." (Good Writing, No? Not mine.) Those are the opening lines of Charles Dicken's novel, A Tale of Two Cities. The story unfolds during the French Revolution. The comparison of the two cities is startling. Peaceful, cosmopolitan, London, a constitutional mo

On 9/11, Marion and I were in Paris at the Hotel Regina on Rue St. Honore. Regina is a lovely hotel on the right bank of the Seine, across the street from the Louvre with a delightful view of the Eiffel Tower, which was decorated with a thousand lights to honor the millennium. We had completed shooting a difficult film, Paradise Lost, in Puerto Rico and were in our second week, trying to recuperate. Room service brought us the most delicious French breakfast and the most glor