Brilliant English majors

Seat-of-the pants post, courtesy of my beloved Shelf Awareness:

The prototypical English major

Question: What literary quality do Jon Hamm, Alan Alda, Maureen Dowd, Jodie Foster, Tommy Lee Jones, Stephen King, Paul Newman, Mike and Marie Gettel-Gilmartin, Joan Rivers, Sting, Helen Thomas, Barbara Walters, Sigourney Weaver, Tom Wolfe, Bob Woodward and Renée Zellweger have in common?


Answer: They were all once college English majors.

(Add yourself to the list, if applicable.)