I loved all things mechanical; cars, trucks, derricks trains, and steam ships. I was in love with mechanics, and I still am.

By the time my sister, Lila Perl, and I were born in the 1920's, my father had established a printing and advertising company called Allied Printing.

As Jews, their families left Russia to escape the poverty and the antisemitism.

They wanted me to play more sports because they were acutely sensitive to their children being one hundred percent American, and they believed that all Americans played sports and loved sports.

Going to school and working for good marks, indeed working for very good marks, was a serious business.

For example, I am not a good craftsman.

As every child knows, chemistry with nothing stronger than vinegar soon becomes dull.

About 1900 my parents came to the United States as children from what was then the Polish area of Russia.

A parent being called to the school because their child had misbehaved was as serious as a parent being called to the police station because their child had robbed a bank.