now, i go back again to thorton wilder. thorton wilder was once asked about how he got his ideas and so forth. i thought our town was one of the greatest things i ever saw on stage. i still love to see it if it's being done again. and i've always wanted to write a book about people you neverwa heard of. to see if i can get you into the tent, as it were, without relying on historic celebrities. so none of the characters except one or two in the periphery of this new book are people you've ever heard of. but all their letters and diaries have survived, and they're in the archives at marietta college in marietta, ohio. and it was as if i'd come into king tut's tomb or something. [laughter] really and truly. oh, my goodness what they talk about and what they reveal and the adversities they faced, and they would not give up. >> so as we wind down the time we have available, two final questions. one, what is the great pleasure of your life today? if you look back on what you've achieved, is it exposing all these things to america

while i was in college i have the good fortune to cross paths with thorton wilder. the great playwright and novelist. he was asked at one point why do you write the plays you do the subjects you choose what you write the novels you do. he said i imagine a story that i would like to be able to read and if i find nobody has written it so i can see it on stage or reading a book i write it myself so i can read it in a book or see it performed on stage. i thought why do you try to write the book about the one you want to read. i knew this is what i want to do for the rest of my life. did you quit your job at usia. i was asked to come back to new york. to work at the american heritage. the wonderful american history magazine which was published with hardcovers and no advertising. in exciting adventurous time i worked there for six years and i wrote the johnstown flood at night and on weekends for three years carry not my job as usual. after had written the book and then after i got the idea for the next book i thought i've got a quit and see if i could doubt full-time and