Imagine having all of your freedoms taken away, being forced to work against your will, and constantly living under the threat of violence – in short, being forced to live as a slave. Sadly, this situation is a reality for millions of children, women, and men each year as part of the global human trafficking industry.
By high school, I was telling everyone, ‘Oh, I’m going to be a doctor when I grow up,’ because my dad was always saying to me, ‘Pick a career path where you’re always going to be necessary.’ But by junior year, I was president of choir, I was the lead in the school play, and I just loved being onstage performing.
Today’s Little Leaguers, and there are millions of them each year, pick up how to hit and throw and field just by watching games on TV. By the time they’re out of high school, the good ones are almost ready to play professional ball.
My mother loved entertaining, and I’ve followed suit, so we have big celebrations for New Year, Passover, Thanksgiving and birthdays.
The year I was born, 1956, was the peak year for babies being born, and there are more people essentially our age than anybody else. We could crush these new generations if we decided too.
When I was 12, I began listening to John Coltrane and I developed a love for jazz, which I still have more and more each year.
For nearly two years, I was flying above the planet with my camera. I knew straight away that this was something important to do, just at this moment, a portrait of the planet for the millennium year. I worked in 80 countries, fighting for money all the time.
For those of us with an inward turn of mind, which is another name for melancholy introspection, the beginning of a new year inevitably leads to thoughts about both the future and the past.
