Q: You're better off than Hemingway at the end.

A: Not only that, I'm better off than anyone I know.

I would have liked to write a book like A Border of Blue: Along the Gulf of Mexico From the Keys to the Yucatán. Or The True Gen: An Intimate Portrait of Hemingway by Those Who Knew Him.

Well, I was able to write "Musicmakers: Poems About Florida" and "Mythmaker: Outsider Poems."

And whatever I write next, I'll be able to write it.

Q: Even if you have to go back to work.

A: I worked when I wrote ON ASSIGNMENT.

Q: So you're better off than Hemingway.

A: I'm better off than Frederick Turner or Denis Brian.

Q: Is old age catching up to you?

A: I made love to Brenda seven times on my 70th birthday.

Q: Why?

A: To show Hemingway who was boss.

Q: The king is dead, long live the king.

A: Something like that.