I keep two sentimental mementos on my desk to remind me of two favorite men. There is an inkwell that my Uncle Seymour made, a brass grotesque he mounted on a marble base. And my grandfather's shaving cup is there, used to store pencils and pens.

Her father had brought her a bookbag. It had pencils and pens in it and even a yo-yo to play with. She was so excited.

Why am I here? It's because I'm the sentimental favorite,

My wife made me get a cellphone, which I keep in my briefcase. I've never used it.

Comedians are really writers who don't have pens and pencils about them, but they riff.

I'm of that generation of Jews still deeply influenced by the Holocaust. Certainly the notion that the state power to kill can be subject to such extraordinary abuse is always lurking beneath the surface for me. Certainly my experience and identity as a Jew is there.