. >> you quoted arthur sulzberger jr. saying, you are dumber than you look. what was that like? >> that was a joke more than anything else, but i laughed about it. on my first day at "the new york times" at west 43rd street, i was taken into his office and ushered into an anteroom of the office to meet him. i met him before, but he said down opposite me, and he slapped his hand down on both of his knees, and he looked at me and said, you must be dumber than you look. his point being the public editor is a person who is going to take it on all sides and is going to take it from inside as well, and there is always a certain gallows humor about why would anybody want to put themselves in that position. >> where is your home town originally? >> i was raised and a military family. i was born in providence, rhode island. my father was stationed at the naval station. he was sent on an aircraft carrier to the pacific for the duration of world war ii, and we live in succession in los gatos, calif., philadelphia after the war, pearl harbor, honolulu, new york, key west, and the family fin

. >> you quoted arthur sulzberger jr., saying that you are dumber than you look. what was that meeting like? >> that was a joke more than anything else. i remembered it and laughed about it. on my first day at "the new york times" in the old building, i was taken up to his office, and ushered into an anti room of the office to meet him on my first day. i had met him before, but this would be formally agree to it. he sat down opposite me and he slapped his hands down on his knees and said, you are here. you must be done more than you look. his point being the public editor is the person who will take it from all sides. they will take it from inside as well. there is always a certain gallows humor about why someone would want to put themselves in that position. >> where is the hometown? >> i was raised in a military family. i was born in providence, rhode island. my father was stationed at the naval station. he was then sent on an aircraft carrier to the pacific for the duration of world war ii. we lived in succession in california, philadelphia after the war, pearl