From the Managing Editor

By Henry Muller

If you are an avid reader of our masthead, you have surely noticed the name Edward L. Jamieson. Appointed assistant managing editor in 1969 and executive editor in 1976, Jamieson has been a top editor of TIME longer than any other person, with the exception of our co-founder Henry R. Luce. Most recently, Ed has presided with great distinction over our "back-of-the-book" sections, the departments that deal with the sciences, culture and society. Having succeeded in managing a major transformation of these sections, he has now decided to retire. The occasion is a significant milestone in the history of this magazine.

Jamieson arrived here from Massachusetts in 1954, when TIME was 31 years old. He polished his craft over nearly four decades, writing and editing in every section, acting as managing editor on countless occasions and, by example and firm prodding, nurturing the talents of several generations of staff people.

In many ways, Jamieson personifies what is best about TIME: his integrity and respect for the English language are enviable, as is his erudition. Ed was a writer in the Nation section in 1961 when he was called on to produce the Man of the Year cover story on John F. Kennedy. Versatility being another Jamieson trait, the next year he wrote an equally fine Man of the Year story on Pope John XXIII.

A voracious reader whose interests range from Peanuts to the Annuario Pontificio, the Vatican's annual equivalent of Who's Who, Ed is known for lugging 30 or more books to his vacation home on Cape Cod every summer. He is known as well for a dry, sharp wit that belies his normally self-effacing style (he once wryly observed that the return of a former, imposing managing editor would be "the Second Coming").

We truly cannot let this man out of our clutches, so I am happy to report that following a sabbatical on Cape Cod with his wife Ann, Ed will return as consulting editor in charge of special issues and projects. "I've had the good luck," he says, "doing what I really enjoy -- watching what goes on in the world and helping to make sense of it, at least in print. I hope to keep on doing both, but have a little more time for simpler things too." Jamieson's good luck is also ours, and we're grateful for that.