On my travels, I’ve been very encouraged by the young people I’ve met. At the beginning of July, I met a young man in line at a fast food restaurant in Washington Heights. During our extended conversation he remarked that learning to speak the Japanese language taught him humility and changed his life’s direction.

Mid August, in Washington, DC, I met a young woman who was bold (and kind) enough to suggest getting coffee at a nearby outlet, rather than the house coffee, since I was on a budget. She inquired the name and theme of the novel I said I would write and immediately responded positively to the direction that the novel would go. If I had a daughter, I’d want her to be just like this young woman: mentally agile, personable and unafraid.

We have remarkable, gifted and well-rounded youngsters. If I could offer advice to the youth of America, I’d say: save now, save often, save until it hurts. What are we doing to them with our national debt? What will they have to do for themselves and to us?