Capri Uni: 'taint sentimental. Sounds like the foundation for a good song. You know, there's so much cyncisim in the world that if you don't watch yourself, you end up stiffling honest emotion, downgrading unjustly to sentimental. When I wrote Handful of Songs and I wrote the line, "It's not what you leave, it's the JOY of remembering," I hesitated. Stupidly. People don't use the word joy much these days. But, it seemed too tepid and limp singing, it's the pleasure of remembering (and I needed a one sylable word to fit the line, anyway.) I ended up leaving it the way it was, and accepted that there Is joy in remembering. Don't be afraid to be positive... even joyful.

Do you know the song Little John of God by Los Lobos? It's a beautiful song about a severely handicapped boy, praising him for the special gifts that he had..."he sees things in a different way." It's very touching, without being sentimental. Just recognizing that each of us has our own gifts.

And 53, don't stop at one song! I'm sure that you have a lot to say. The only way to get better is to keep writing. As Roger Miller sang, "All you got to do is put your mind to it, knuckle down, buckle down, do it, do it, do it." Write for the fun of it, and don't worry if your first efforts sound stupid to you. They may not sound stupid to others..

Jerry