Reporting on and analyzing the major issues--economics, politics, civil rights, legal rights, international relations, war and peace--are the basics of our job. In dealing with both big and small questions, though, we seek to tell the story in human terms. Thus each week TIME has its cast of characters, some well known and some obscure, who are important or fascinating or perhaps both. In this week's cast:

JAMES THOMSON, 61, who never sold a share of stock but is now president of the world's largest brokerage firm and has massive economic responsibility. See the cover story in U. S. BUSINESS.

LUCY PAGE MERCER RUTHERFURD, "a sweet, womanly person" whose relationship with Franklin Delano Roosevelt is called "one of the great love stories of American history." See THE NATION.

MAJOR JAMES KASLER, ace U.S. Air Force pilot, flew back into danger to help a buddy, and was last heard reporting: "My leg is broken." See THE WORLD.

TIM PAGE hitchhiked into Southeast Asia, worked at odd jobs, from giving drawing lessons to teaching English, turned into one of the best photographers covering the Viet Nam war, and last week became the first allied correspondent to be wounded on three separate occasions and live to tell the tale. See PRESS.

BILLY ROSE, a tiny man who loved tall girls, died six months ago, left an estate that may run as high as $50 million, but still lies unburied, in a situation that his old cronies say might be just fine with him. See THE LAW.

JACOB LATEINER, a vintage pianist who speaks of wines the way fellow musicians speak of him: "The very great ones need time to develop; they must mature in their own time." See Music.

CARROLL CLOAR, a Southern painter who never studied painting, aptly describes the budding spirit of the young artist: "At first it was only cowboys, then it was baseball and football players. Finally I drew a cowgirl." See ART.

ALAN KAPROW dressed himself in black plastic, donned a World War I helmet, dubbed himself "The Neutron Kid," and set Southampton on its ear with a three-day Happening that included smoke bombs, sky divers and giant, helium-filled balloons. See MODERN LIVING.

MARC ORAISON is a Frenchman and WILLIAM DUBAY is an American, but both are Roman Catholic priests who in separate ways have challenged the Vatican's right to withhold approval from books touching on faith and morals. See RELIGION.

EDDIE NELOY longed to be a jockey, but he grew up to be 6-ft. 2-in. tall, weighing 220 Ibs. So he kept his feet on the ground and became the most successful horse trainer in the U.S. See SPORT.

CHINUA ACHEBE, 36, Nigeria's foremost writer, achieves the sophisticated feat of looking at his country with humor and satire. See BOOKS.

BURT LANCASTER appeared one evening in a terry-cloth robe at a back door in a well-trimmed New York suburban neighborhood. "Are you the lady of the house?" he asked. "May I have a vodka martini?" He got it. See SHOW BUSINESS.

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