The talent of a writer

“Every human being has hundreds of separate people living under his skin. The talent of a writer is his ability to give them their separate names, identities, personalities and have them relate to other characters living with him." - Mel Brooks  

Born Melvin Kaminsky in Brooklyn, NY, in 1926, Brooks started his long, successful show business career by organizing entertainment for combat troops who had advanced across Europe in the last part of WWII.  That was when he wasn't defusing landmines and destroying pillboxes as part of a special combat engineering unit - service that won awards for heroism.

While many only think of Mel Brooks as a comedian, the multi-talented 92-year-old also is a thoughtful writer who is one of only a handful of people to have won all four of the major entertainment awards - Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and Tony - three of them for writing.

A poet, too, he wrote: 

Hope for the best.

Expect the worst. 

Life is a play. 

We’re unrehearsed.