Alice Walker, 1983 winner of the Pulitzer Prize

Author of "The Color Purple" and other best sellers   

For the Chinese New Year, I know that all things begin new, and fresh, and clean, and different in your culture, and I appreciate that. I think that that's a wonderful thing for my culture to learn; that we can let go of the old ways, the old hindrances, and we can embrace the new. And really learn to live with each other, enjoy each other's accompany.