"Get yourself up and make something of yourself,buddy!"Though my mother has passed away,her words are as clear in my head today as when I was a boy. "Christ!"I said,"I have made something of myself. I want to sleep late as I like." "If there's one thing I can't stand,it's a quitter."Her voice in my head is more powerful than my will to refuse,so I pull myself from bed. Before I was out of primary school,mother could see I lacked the gifts for either making millions or winning the love of crowds.So she began pushing me toward working with words. _ .There seemed to be a word gene that passed down from her mother's grandfather* The greatest proof was my mother's first cousin Edwin.He was the managing editor of the New York Times and had gained a name in his career. In 1947 1 graduated from Johns Hopkins and applied for a job with the Baltimore Sun as a police reporter.It paid$30 a week .When I complained the wage was shameful for a learned man,mother refused to sympathize."If you work hard at this job,"she said,"maybe you can make something of it." After a while,I was asked to cover diplomats at various African embassies. Then, seven years later I was arranged by the Sun to cover the White House,a task that was as close to heaven as a journalist could get.However,whatever achievement of mine only seemed insignificant in her eyes.Uncle Edwin's success was really annoying during my early years as a reporter.What a thrill,I thought. Then,out of my wildest childhood fantasy,the Times came knocking.It was sad that Uncle Edwin had passed away by this time.In 1979 I won the Pulitzer Prize.Unfortunately,my mother's brain and health broke down the year before,leaving her in a nursing home,out of touch with life forevermore .She never knew of my Pulitzer. I can probably guess how she'd have responded." That's nice,buddy.It shows if you work hand,you'11 be able to make something of yourself one day," The author regards Uncle Edwin's success as a thrill because  _  .
he himself was less smart than Uncle Edwin his mother's family thought Uncle Edwin to be a good reporter few reporters can become the managing editor of the New York Times Uncle Edwin spared no effort to get the Pulitzer Prize at the cost of his life