"Perhaps I am being too hard on myself, but in retrospect, I find it hard to believe that my life through the late 30s seemed largely unaffected (and unaware) by what was going on in the world."
"I was born in the Bronx in December 1927 to a mother who had come from Vaslui, Romania and a father who had come from Kishinev, Bessarabia which was part of Russia."