“I really am glad that the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children has had the courage to stand up and say that children should not be hit under any circumstances. I am a committed supporter of this campaigning charity for children.”

“My dad was in the Second World War with General Patton. He won medals for bravery, but he came home quite damaged, so he was a handful. He told us some terrible stories, and I guess you'd say he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.”

“I think poetry is able to say things in such a small, perfect way that are so hard to say. I think it's a perfect medium for expressing difficult ideas and concepts and feelings. It's one of my great loves.”

“So few people read poetry. That's sad, isn't it?”

“Getting a divorce is always horrible because you feel you've failed. Everyone hates to give up on a marriage. You think your family's broken up.”

“Divorce is not the end of the world. It's worse to stay in an unhealthy marriage. That's a worse example for the children.”

“My mother and my sisters - five girls - were crazy about glamour and Hollywood movies. I styled myself on Veronica Lake and Marlene Dietrich.”

“I'm one of five sisters. I'm the younger of twins, and we're the youngest of five girls, and we've always been very close. We were pretty much a gang. I take after my mother a lot in terms of personality and character. She was very positive; always looked on the bright side of things. She had a tough time of it with my dad but did her best.”

“As far as vanity and wrinkles and things like that, that's a part of life I don't worry about. I put on creams, you know, but don't go mad, and I don't have any kind of treatments. I just live a healthy lifestyle. And staying happy, not getting negative and angry, I think that helps, looking at the positive of everything.”

“A healthy love life is not and should not be the preserve of those in their 20s and 30s. It's important at all ages.”

“I really am glad that the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children has had the courage to stand up and say that children should not be hit under any circumstances. I am a committed supporter of this campaigning charity for children.”