A Letter from the Editors

THIS space is normally reserved for TIME'S weekly letter from the publisher, and since Feb. 10, 1967 it has carried the signature of

This week, however, the letter is from the editors of TIME, because its subject is publishers--past, present and future. Our colleague Jim Shepley is leaving his post at TIME to become president and chief operating officer of Time Inc., TIME'S parent company. We are sad to see him leave the magazine where, as he says, "I have spent 27 of my professional years in journalism."

Starting in 1942 as a correspondent in TIME'S Washington bureau, Shepley later distinguished himself for wartime reporting in Europe and the Pacific and, in 1948, became the youngest Washington bureau chief ever. Nine years later, he was named chief of the U.S. and Canadian news service. Moving over to the business side in late 1960, he spent three years as assistant publisher of LIFE and another three as publisher of FORTUNE before returning to TIME as publisher. During his stewardship, TIME'S circulation has grown 20% to its present 5,300,000, and advertising revenues have climbed 25% and will reach $125 million in 1969.

It is with particular pleasure that we welcome our new publisher, who bears a name well known to every TIME reader. The signature on this page next week will be that of the son of TIME'S cofounder and himself a working journalist and business executive for 20 of his 44 years. Born in New York City, Hank Luce took his B.A. at Yale in 1948, following three years in the Navy, in which he served aboard a destroyer escort in the Pacific. After becoming a reporter for the Cleveland Press, he joined TIME'S Washington bureau in 1951 as a correspondent, and two years later transferred to New York as a writer in the NATIONAL AFFAIRS section, where he wrote cover stories on House Speaker Joseph W. Martin Jr., Wisconsin's Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, and the then Vice President, Richard Nixon.

After almost three years of writing, Hank Luce moved on to a wide variety of jobs. He played a major role in planning and supervising the construction of the new Time & Life Building, served as circulation director of FORTUNE, director of corporate research and development, London bureau chief for TIME and, since April 1968, publisher of FORTUNE. With it all, says Luce, "I've spent more years at TIME than in any other part of the company. It is, of course, the origin of the company, the first magazine, the great flagship of the group. It is very exciting to be back."

Two other well-remembered TIME publishers are also assuming new positions. Because of recent illness, our publisher from September 1945 to April 1960, has asked to be relieved of the presidency of Time Inc., a post he has held for the past nine years; he will continue to serve the company as chairman of the executive committee. Finally,

TIME'S publisher from April 1960 to February 1967 and now a senior vice president of Time Inc., will become an executive vice president with responsibility for magazine publishing. The overall direction of the company will remain with Board Chairman Andrew Heiskell, who assumes the additional responsibility of chief executive officer, and Editor-in-Chief Hedley Donovan, who retains full authority for all editorial operations.

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