A Letter From The Publisher: Oct. 31, 1983

The magazine had been written, edited and was being "put to bed" by the production department and TIME'S printing plants. After midnight Saturday, the editors' offices in the Time & Life Building were quiet and so, it seemed, was the world. Jacalyn McConnell was alone at the news desk, routinely monitoring the overnight wire-service reports and Cable News Network broadcasts.

Just before 3 a.m., both outlets sounded the first ugly bulletin about the attack on the Marines in Beirut. Such late-breaking major news is the raison d'ĂȘtre of McConnell's job: she immediately telephoned World Senior Editor Henry Muller and Deputy Chief of...

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