Larry Doyle, a former writer for The Simpsons, works in showbiz and writes funny things for the New Yorker. He lives outside Baltimore with his wife, Becky, their three children, and one dog, until it dies, and then no more dogs, according to the wife. His novel, I Love You, Beth Cooper, is being made into a movie directed by Chris Columbus and starring Hayden Panettiere.

• March/April 2008: Sedaratives