From the Publisher

By Elizabeth P. Valk

Normal people, beginning their careers, often plan toward what they hope to be doing in 20 years. But journalists aren't that normal -- and besides, how could Barrett Seaman have known in October 1971 that he would spend his 20th anniversary with our company in rural Wise County, Va., watching Oliver North, the ramrod Marine who mesmerized America during the 1987 Iran-contra hearings, campaign for Republican candidates? But for Barry, who excerpted North's autobiography, Under Fire, for this week's issue, getting a close-up look at the author in action was critical to understanding his enduring appeal. "We've all forgotten Olliemania," he says. "Liberals dismiss North as part of the problem with government. But conservatives go nuts when he shows up. They see him as someone who is like them, another victim of government."

Seaman brings unusual qualifications to his latest assignment. As senior White House correspondent during most of Ronald Reagan's second term, he covered the Iran-contra affair, speaking often with North's colleagues in the West Wing and on the National Security Council. He never succeeded in cornering the elusive lieutenant colonel himself, although he did once glimpse the infamous paper shredder. Firsthand knowledge of the players did not prevent Seaman from being surprised by some of the revelations in Under Fire, however. One disclosure was the extent to which the late CIA director William Casey "ran" North, schooling his eager protege in the basics of off-the- books operations. Another eye-opener: North's willingness to admit mistakes, including his role in the arms-for-hostages deal.

Reducing North's opus took work, but Barry has practice. In 1988 he whittled down For the Record, the memoir of former White House chief of staff Donald Regan; last year he excerpted Reagan's autobiography. "Barry did such a masterly job on those that there was no question who should handle North's book," says executive editor Ronald Kriss, who oversaw this project, having cut down a number of works himself. Indeed, so apparent is Seaman's editing talent that in June he was made a senior editor, a much more logical event to have put on his agenda 20 years ago.