From the Managing Editor

By Henry Muller

This week I am borrowing the space that usually belongs to my colleague, TIME's worldwide publisher Bob Miller, because I want to share with you my excitement over the issue in your hands. We journalists take much of our job satisfaction from the sense that we are constantly recording history as it is made, each day and each week. Last week history came pounding over the wires into our offices and then out to the presses with unusual drama and clarity.

Tuesday's elections gave us America's first elected black Governor, Doug Wilder of Virginia. That event, along with an analysis of the progress blacks have made in other contests, and Lance Morrow's account of his return to the grass roots of Prince Edward County, was our cover story until Thursday afternoon. But then came the stunning announcement that East Germans be allowed to travel through the Berlin Wall and would be granted freer elections as well. Bonn bureau chief Jim Jackson called me to urge that we change the cover, but my fellow editors and I hardly needed to be persuaded. Our twelve- page cover treatment on East Germany includes a vivid pictorial record of this emotional moment in history and a thoughtful assessment of what these changes may mean for Europe -- and for all of us. We're still giving you the full Wilder story in the Nation section.

History isn't written only in headlines, any more than news is all made by diplomats and politicians. Consider the ETHICS story on the efforts of gays to win legal recognition for their relationships. Or the report in IDEAS on Japanese author Shintaro Ishihara's blunt criticisms of American attitudes. We have exclusive excerpts in WORLD from a private memo Richard Nixon sent to congressional leaders after his recent China visit. By the way, you'll notice that we've moved INTERVIEW to a new position near the front of the magazine, ahead of NATION.

It was an exhilarating week to be an editor. I hope that as you read this issue you will catch our excitement over the events and ideas in the air.