Millions of readers defined their lives through Gail Sheehy's landmark work, Passages, and have followed her continuing examination of the stages of adult life in her bestsellers The Silent Passage, New Passages, and Understanding Men's Passages.  As a political journalist and contributing editor to Vanity Fair, Ms. Sheehy has written character studies of national and world figures, including Bill and Hillary Clinton, Bob and Elizabeth Dole, George Bush, Mikhail Gorbachev, Margaret Thatcher, Saddam Hussein, Newt Gingrich, and Gary Hart. The mother of two daughters, she divides her time between New York and California, where she lives with her husband, editor and educator Clay Felker. Less