I have recently started to write with pen and paper, as opposed to composing on a computer. I do little research and never outline. I simply ask myself, “What is it that needs to be said in this moment.”
How did you discover that you were a writer?
When I was applying to business school many years ago, I wrote the application essays with a depth and passion I had not sensed in myself prior to that. When I gave the essays to two English teachers for editing, I expected them to tear the essays apart. They were, instead, very complimentary. That was the first time I understood what writing might become for me.
Describe your writing process.
If a writer is someone who simply must write, I am not a writer. Instead, there are times when an idea or topic occurs to me and I feel the urge to get that idea, topic or question on paper. I have recently started to write with pen and paper, as opposed to composing on a computer. I do little research and never outline. I simply ask myself, “What is it that needs to be said in this moment.”
What was the inspiration behind what you’ll be reading at Waterline?
I am reading from my book “Questions That Matter.” I love questions because they open us to new ideas, rather than leading us down paths we have often traveled with results we already know. I am intrigued by questions that nudge me into the unknown.
What are you working on now?
I continue to be haunted by ideas about the future of the species in relation to the biosphere. I am not a futurist, but I have tried many times to try to explain what I see. So far, I have not had much success.
What was the last great thing you read by another author?
I do not read much fiction, but my daughter, an educator in Washington DC, challenged me to read “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas. I found it to be very powerful.
You’re organizing a literary dinner party. Which writer, dead or alive, do you invite?
Dee Hock, who wrote “Birth of the Chaordic Age,” is one of the most deeply philosophical people I have ever met. He writes with great clarity and wisdom.