Jonathan Rauch

At about age 20, I realized that (1) I didn't have the talent to be a musician, and (2) I didn't have the concentration to specialize. Naturally, I became a journalist. My first managing editor, Joe Goodman, at the Winston-Salem Journal, used to say: "Everyone has a story to tell; your job is to find it." In my books, I tell stories about Japan, free inquiry, government sclerosis, gay marriage, sexual denial, political realism, and--most recently--why life gets better after 50. I've won the National Magazine Award and some other prizes and been called (wrongly) "doctor" and "professor." To me, though, the highest honorific is: journalist. For my official bio: www.jonathanrauch.com.