Mel Brooks

Bad taste is simply saying the truth before it should be said.

Immortality is a by-product of good work.

We want to get people laughing; we don't want to offend anybody.

I don't like to get in front of people.

Although I write to entertain, and try to keep my work free of didacticism, I do have a rather passionate belief in our need to be connected to - and to learn from - history.

I studied international relations and economics at the University of Virginia. I paid my way by working as a bartender in the summer and at three part-time jobs during the year.