—Do you love your mother with a voracity that belongs more to, say, Sicily or Latin America than the coldness that can be found in careerist, modern-day Estados Unidos?

—There’s cynicism in your question. But yes, my mother-love is more of the Romance language sort than the English. With lots of Hawaiian - home of ohana - thrown in.

—Do you ever call her Ma?

—Rarely. But I do love the way that sounds. Mom’s name is Kamille. I call her Kam-Kam, or on occasion Kam-corder. Note how I said ‘Mom’s name’ not my ‘My mom’s name,’ the latter suggesting propriety, the former suggesting universality. Once, quoting the great Bill Callahan, I said, ‘Hey Kam Kam, ever feel like the mother of the world?’ She laughed. ‘You kids are my world, so yes, I guess I have, and do.’ Anyway, sometimes I’ll call her ‘Mother of the Wor