My father brought home a Mickey Spillane from a business trip when I was in sixth grade.  I became addicted, and read them all.  After that, I thought the greatest thing in the world would be to become a paperback  writer churning out pulp.

After that, every summer I went through all of Ian Fleming at least once, and read Le Carre again and again.  Then the movie Nikita came out.  And then I went to live in or at least visit all the beautiful cities I read about in those books.  And then I discovered Ani DiFranco.