I would love to play my twin! Caroline is often the inspiration when I have to play strong, heroic characters. As of yet, there are no plans for her book to be made into a movie (although it would make a great film). Of course, if a screenplay were written, I would jump at the chance to play Caroline, but I would prefer someone like Meg Ryan to star because then the film would be more likely be hit. And that is better for my sister! Perhaps I could play a smaller role….

Thank you for your letter. To anyone who hasn’t read “Fighting Fire”, I recommend it highly. (And I am not just saying that because my sister wrote it!)

Alexandra

I love being a twin, and I believe that it shaped my character alot having one. Caroline has made me twice the person I would have been as a singleton. Because I wanted to be more like her when we were growing up, I was more involved with sports. I was braver, too, because she was always testing her limits, and I followed her as best I could. She and my brother Jonathan influenced my social activism (Jonathan is an animal rights activist and Caroline taught me alot about human rights and women’s rights). We are actually not positive that we are identical twins. A couple years ago we took a DNA test to see if we were identical or fraternal and the results are still on my desk unopened!!! We want to be identical because we treasure that unique bond, and I think we are nervous that if we are fraternal it will break that. Silly, I know. Maybe one day we will open it.

Caroline and I call each other if we feel the other one may be sad, and often we are correct. We like the same kind of Mrs. See’s chocolate (milk chocolate with maple inside) but we dont have the exact same taste in books. We are more similar than different, and most importantly, I can tell her ANYTHING and she will listen.

Best wishes, Alexandra

I consider myself an animal rights activist. I do not eat meat or fish (this is also an environmental issue for me) and I do not wear leather, wool or silk. I think zoos or wild animal parks of any kind are disgusting. I will not use any cosmetics or household cleaning products which have been tested on animals. I boycott Procter & Gamble and Gillette, among others, because they test their products on animals.

I am repulsed by testing on animals for new medicines and medical procedures, but I concede that many human lives have been saved from it. I, myself, probably have benefited. HOWEVER, I believe that in a lot of cases (read: thousands and thousands) animal testing is unnecessary or counterproductive: researchers get large sums of money in grants to do experiments, and this makes animal testing a big business – silly experiments are done just to keep the money coming in. Also, animals are not biologically the same as humans, so to experiment on them for human drugs is not always viable. The animals are often not given painkillers when they are being experimented on (because it may skew the results), and they are kept in tiny cages all their lives. It is unspeakably cruel.

Do the ends justify the means? I have seen what is done to those lab animals and it is shocking. But, I also know that having Parkinson’s Disease or being a quadriplegic is a kind of torture too, and I want those people to be helped. I deal with this dilemma by not giving any money to charities involved in animal research, no matter how noble the cause. I guess I am sitting on the fence on this issue by doing that, but I see the grey areas. Overall, I feel that we if we abandoned animal research we would figure out more humane ways to do those same experiments. You have asked a very complex and wrenching question – I hope I answered it adequately.

Alexandra