There's an old Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times." Looking back on the fifties and sixties it appears that we did just that. As a youngster one of my earliest memories was the gift of a collection of stories by Rudyard Kipling. Growing up reading Asimov, Heinlein, and Bradbury, I became convinced that I would someday become a writer. It's only been in my later years that I've finally realized that dream.