William A. Henry III was sitting on the sidelines covering a schoolboy football game for his North Plainfield, N.J., high school newspaper when his journalism career began. A reporter from the Plainfield Courier-News showed up late and asked Henry what had happened. Impressed with Henry's colorful recounting of the game, the old pro soon thereafter helped the 16-year-old land a part-time job at the paper. Henry's career continued at Yale, where he was executive editor of both the Yale Daily News and the Yale Banner yearbook and co-author of three published books.

Henry also pursued his other love: the theater. He appeared with the Yale Repertory Theater and, during summers, acted in stock at night while working on newspapers by day. But journalism was the role he was cut out for. As Henry puts it: "There aren't many parts for a short, plump actor who can't sing or dance." From Yale, Henry went to the Boston Globe, where he eventually became the Globe's editorial writer on national politics. After covering the Ford-Carter presidential race, Henry was named the Globe's TV editor. His writing from that chair earned him the 1980 Pulitzer Prize for criticism; he was 30, the youngest person ever to win in that category. After coming to TIME last year as an associate editor, he wrote for the Nation section. A few months ago, shortly after he was assigned to the Press section, Henry and Senior Editor Stephen Smith began to consider a cover story on Communications Mogul Ted Turner. Recalls Henry: "The first thing I did was go to my office and turn on the TV, switch the dial to Turner's Cable News Network and start watching." He finds CNN soothing: "When you're in the middle of some ordeal analyzing breaking news, and you feel your perspective slipping away, and then you watch someone else react to the same news, it snaps you up and reassures you."

Trying to profile so visible a public figure at first gave Henry pause. But Atlanta Bureau Correspondent B.J. Phillips' reporting soon put his anxiety to rest. Phillips spent time with Turner in a variety of settings, including two days with his family on his plantation retreat south of Charleston, S.C. Says Henry: "She got Turner to tell stories about himself I never saw in print."

Henry also had a closeup view of his subject in action at a national cable convention. "I watched him work a crowd and found the energy he brings to selling his product and himself even more overwhelming than I anticipated. You literally have to run to follow him around the room. Turner's enthusiasm generates a zest for life that made working on the story exciting."

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