A Letter From the Publisher

By Robert L. Miller

The airport immigration agent was suspicious when Senior Writer Tom Callahan landed in London to interview Daley Thompson, Britain's two-time Olympic decathlon champion. "Does he know you're coming?" asked the agent, pointing out Thompson's notorious avoidance of the press. "He doesn't give interviews, you know." He did to Callahan, and the result is part of our special section on the Summer Games of the XXIV Olympiad in Seoul.

The section, which fills XXIX pages, is one of the most elaborate such previews TIME has ever produced -- and a reflection of what we gauge to be unprecedented global interest in this quadrennial celebration of athletic excellence. The project was assembled under the direction of Senior Editor Jose M. Ferrer III, who also edited last February's preview of the Winter Games in Calgary. "There are many sources of information about the Olympics, from elaborate access guides to last-minute look-ahead capsules in the newspapers," says Ferrer. "Our package is designed for the solid amateur Olympics fan, one who does not need an encyclopedic guide but wants a serious warm-up to this year's Games."

Our warm-up highlights more than two dozen athletes who are at the top of their sport, a television viewer's guide to key events, and an offbeat look at Seoul by Contributor Pico Iyer, whose recent book, Video Night in Kathmandu, examines the inroads of Western popular culture throughout Asia. Perhaps the most arresting feature of the special section is photographic. Picture Researcher Dorothy Affa Ames began assigning photographers to cover pre- Olympic meets in April, and since then has edited 5,000 pictures provided by a dozen photojournalists and a score of photo agencies. A former professional photographer, Affa Ames is convinced that "shooting sports is an excellent training ground for news photography."

To give the special section a special look, Ferrer called on Deputy Art Director Arthur Hochstein, who began experimenting with designs in July. Late last week, as he labored over the final layouts for the project, a harried Hochstein described his state of mind by reaching for -- what else? -- an Olympics metaphor. "I am on the last lap of my own marathon," he said. We're happy to report that he finished with a flourish.