My father was a soldier in World War II and I didn’t see him for a couple of years. So when he came back, his mode of re-acquaintance was to take me to every interesting place in New York City, and the Museum of Natural History was of course on the agenda. So it must have been some time in 1946, when I was four or five — maybe ’47, I’m not sure — and we went to the Museum of Natural History and I took one look at the dinosaurs and they were just so interesting. You ask why. You and everyone asks always why kids are so fascinated with dinosaurs. I don’t really know the answer to that, but it certainly seems persistent. A friend of mine is an eminent child psychologist. He once gave an answer, which may be a little oversimplified, but I think is basically pretty good. He says, “Why are kids fascinated with dinosaurs? That’s simple: big, fierce and extinct,” which they certainly are. Maybe that’s all it was. But I remember standing under the Tyrannosaurus, and it’s pretty big even today — but when you’re five, it’s a lot bigger — and a man sneezed, and I thought the Tyrannosaurus had come to life and was about to devour me. But at that moment, the fear — I just let fascination creep in.