STAR STUFF
Oscar-winning actress
~ Mira Sorvino ~
said her father, actor
Paul Sorvino
didn�t want her to go into
professional acting.
�He felt it was too full,�
she said, �of pain and rejection.�
Mira Sorvino may well have taken
a different path in life
had world events
not changed her course.
Mira had been interested in China
ever since she read, as a child,
Pearl Buck�s
THE GOOD EARTH.
She went to Harvard in 1985
majoring in East Asian studies
and learning Mandarin,
the Chinese dialect spoken most
throughout the world.
She decided to go to China
in her junior year.
�At first I was lonely,� she recalled.
�but after I made some friends
I had a great sense
of happiness and positivism
about having started a new life.�
Mira studied in Beijing
and was close to
the nascent pro-democracy
student movement.
Mira returned to Harvard
after approximately eight months,
fully expecting to return
to China to teach.
The Massacre In Tiananmen Square
shocked the entire world.
�It shut a door,� Mira said simply.
�If this terrible thing hadn�t been done,
my life might have happened in China.�
Dotson Rader in Parade
As a child
~ R. L. Stine ~
author of the children�s
horror book series
~ Goosebumps ~ and ~ Fear Street ~
was fascinated with horror comics.
They featured hideous ghouls
vampires and swamp creatures
and he found them funny
and frightening at the same time.
�My mother didn�t allow me
to buy them,� he explained.
�I made sure I went
to the barbershop every Saturday
so that I wouldn�t miss a single issue.
At the age of ten
I had a new appreciation for fear
and very short hair.�
The gruesome stories of today
are just as appalling and hilarious
to another generation.
�Why do kids like horror so much?�
asks Stine. �Just like fictional monsters,
many kids sometimes feel like outsiders.
They feel different, ugly, out of control
and frightened by their angry feelings.
In our horror literature
~ at no matter what age ~
we want to escape rationality.
We want to face our monsters.�
Newsweek
Top columnist
~ Lois Smith Brady ~
writes about love and weddings
for the New York Times,
and she often talks on the subject.
When people ask her where to find love,
Lois tells about a job interview
early in her career
when an editor gave her some advice.
�Go out into the world.
Work hard at what you love to do ~ writing.
If you become good, we will find you.
It may take years,
but if your work stands out,
we will call you.�
�That�s what I tell people
looking for love,� explains Brady.
�Don�t read articles
about how to trap a mate.
Don�t worry about your lipstick
or about your weight.
Just live your life well
and don�t mope, complain
or shop around too much.
Love will find you.
Lois Smith Brady in Love Lessons