A Letter From the Publisher

By Elizabeth Valk Long

Some things just don't go together: oil and water or, for journalists, long- range plans and breaking news. Few have experienced the latter truism as dramatically as Washington science correspondent Dick Thompson, who reported this week's "inside story" on how the Clinton Administration constructed its health-care package.

In January, Thompson booked a mid-September bicycle tour through Tuscany for himself and girlfriend Kirstin Nolan, an editorial aide at the Washington Post. At the White House, officials targeted May for announcing the new health plan.

In early April, Dick was assigned to report full time on how Hillary Rodham Clinton and her team were deciding the content and funding of the package. He began conducting more than 60 interviews with officials, who told him the details on condition that TIME would not print the story until the plan was made public.

May came and went as the President labored to produce a new budget, then struggled to win its approval. On June 30, while biking home, Thompson stopped on Memorial Bridge over the Potomac and proposed. The Tuscany trip would be a honeymoon. The two, each marrying for the first time, would leave for Italy Sept. 11, after their wedding in Georgetown. When Congress recessed Aug. 7, White House sources pushed the target back to mid-September. Tuscany was out, so the couple planned a honeymoon weekend in a Virginia 18th century countryside inn.

Last week Thompson handed over a 40,000-word draft to White House correspondent Michael Duffy to boil down for an anticipated Sept. 20 publication. "Midnight Thursday," said Dick, without comment, "the editors decided to do a health cover this week." Working all night, he secured the detailed proposals by 8 a.m. Friday. Washington bureau chief Dan Goodgame wrote the main news story with reporting from Laurence Barrett on early reaction to the plan on Capitol Hill.

Thompson, 48, missed the wedding rehearsal dinner and spent a second straight all-nighter at his desk. "I wanted a low-key wedding," said the understanding bride, who is 27, "but I hope my groom will be awake." He was, and made the ceremony with minutes to spare. Alas, not the country inn. Post- reception, Thompson closed the story from a hotel -- naturally, one adjacent to the office.

Nolan at least was with him. Some things just go together.