Contributors

PAUL GRAY has spent 24 years at TIME reviewing and writing about such authors as John Updike, John Cheever and Toni Morrison, but he says this week's story on Tom Wolfe was one of his most intimidating endeavors. "I was nervous about interviewing Wolfe because he is a superb interviewer himself," admits Gray. "And then there's the issue of what to wear." Gray put on his best suit to meet the author, whom he found "extraordinarily gracious and extremely well dressed." Gray, who on average reads three books a week, says Wolfe's latest novel, A Man in Full, offers "a deep look at society without skimping on pizazz and wretched excess." JOEL STEIN, who wrote this week's article on the Yankees, never played Little League. "I was afraid of the other kids," he admits. He joined the soccer team only because his parents insisted that he play a sport--and bowling wasn't offered at his elementary school. "I didn't like soccer. I used to run away from the ball and pick dandelions." His aversion to playing baseball didn't prevent him from watching it, and he fondly remembers doing homework to the sound of Yankees sportscaster Phil Rizzuto's voice. Stein has overcome his poor work habits to become a valuable member of our staff. "I just take it one day at a time," he says, "and do whatever I can for the team."

NADYA LABI, in three years at TIME, has written about the schoolyard killings in Jonesboro, Ark., and the crash of Swiss Air Flight 111. In this week's American Scene, she weighs in on a brighter topic: the culture clash in a small city outside Los Angeles, where certain residents paint their homes in vivid yellows and pinks, to the distress of some of their neighbors. While she appreciated the change of topic, the trip wasn't so lighthearted as she anticipated. "I didn't know colors could provoke such strong emotions," she says. Labi, who is moving into a new apartment next month, allows that the story inspired her to be more creative when picking paint.