For almost six years this column has been the territory of Ralph Davidson. This week I am taking it over in order to report two important new executive assignments, including Davidson's. He is leaving the publisher's chair to join the office of President James R. Shepley. His assignment, as Shepley wrote in a memo to the staff, will be "to share the duties of my office and familiarize himself with all of Time Inc.'s major lines of business."
No problems of acclimatization are expected: Davidson thrives on change, as his personal history at Time Inc. makes clear. A native New Mexican who...