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I came to Ireland 20 years ago as a student, hitch-hiking round for a week and staying in Dublin.

I spent my junior year in Switzerland. On the way back home, I spent some time in England, and I remember going to Hyde Park Corner. And there was a Roman Catholic priest in his collar, standing on a soapbox, preaching the Catholic faith and being heckled by a group. And I thought, 'My goodness.' I thought that was admirable.

I didn't start traveling abroad until I was 17, but I spent many summers on the beaches of Donegal in Ireland.

I am who I am: an Irish Catholic kid, working class from Long Island. And I made it big.

After high school, I went to Stanford University and majored in English. Of course, that gave me a chance to do lots more reading and writing. I also received degrees in London and Dublin - where I moved to be near a charming Irishman who became my husband!

I go off into Dublin and two days later I'm spotted walking by the Liffey with a whole bunch of new friends.

Growing up, I was your classic Catholic Irish kid. I went to mass every Sunday. Then in secondary school I went to boarding school, and there was mass seven days a week before breakfast - it may have put me off!

When I graduated from college in the spring of 1970, I decided to hitchhike around Europe with my guitar and my backpack. I was gone for about four months.