HONG KONG — Sailing down the middle of choppy Victoria Harbor, surrounded by impatient coastal freighters and the city’s glimmering office towers, we are discussing safety equipment — the harnesses that will tether us to…More
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Thais at wit’s end with wayward elephants POOR PACHYDERMS Like Thai humans, domesticated elephants suffer from expanding unemployment
Bangkok — Perched on the roof of his van, Roger Lohanan guides a powerful search light across tropical vegetation, hoping to spot an elephant. Eventually, a bare-chested boy emerges from the bush and says a…More
Publishers Cater To Captive Audience For Unsold Books — Bored Prisoners Will Read Anything They Can Get; It’s `a Key to Our Cells’
“The objective of this missive is an appeal for knowledge,” begins a two-page letter from Francisco Garcia to “Dear Schuster,” at the New York office of Simon & Schuster. Mr. Garcia, until recently an inmate…More
No Offense: Big Retail Chains Get Special Advance Looks At Magazine Contents — Wal-Mart, Many Others Bar Some Issues as Too Racy, Cite Customer Concerns — People’s Publisher Says ‘No’
Early in February, Cosmopolitan shipped an advance copy of its March issue to the magazine buyer for Winn-Dixie supermarkets. On Feb. 12, the buyer e-mailed the company’s 1,186 stores saying the chain wouldn’t carry the…More
Hard Copy: Magazine Advertisers Demand Prior Notice Of `Offensive’ Articles — Big Companies Like Chrysler Want to Know Contents, And Publishers Acquiesce — Sexual, Political, Social Issues
When Esquire Editor in Chief Edward Kosner abruptly killed a short story about a gay man who writes college term papers in exchange for sex, he sought to calm the ensuing uproar by declaring he…More
The Pen Is Mightier: At the Stars and Stripes, Johnny Gets His Pad And Barks, `Why, Sir?’ — Paper Digs Up Tough Stories Regarding the Pentagon, Which Has to Print Them — Fewer Readers, Bloated Staff
GAJEVI, Bosnia and Herzegovina — Arriving at the scene of a pitched gun battle between Muslim civilians and Serb police, Jeffrey Smith approaches an angry crowd of Muslims, his pen and pad at the ready….More
High-Wire Act: Instincts That Took Newsweek’s Editor To Top Save Him Now — Maynard Parker’s Bosses Back Him After Role in Hiding `Primary Colors’ Author — `Scrambling the Jets’ Weekly
How do you fall for a sensational forgery, help cover up a spectacular literary lie, and still hold on to one of the most prestigious jobs in journalism? For the answer to that question, meet…More
Not So Simple: William E. Simon Is Kinder and Gentler, But Investments Lag — Real-Estate and Thrift Deals Fall Short of ’80s Success With Leveraged Buyouts — Lourdes `Changed His Life’
William E. Simon is best known for making a fortune in leveraged buyouts after a star turn as an outspoken, conservative Treasury secretary in the 1970s. So what’s he doing in the dupe’s role in…More
The Aftermath: Hit by Derivatives, Florida County Tries To Decide What to Do — Escambia Officials Bog Down In Confusion and Politics; Issue: To Sell or Not to Sell — Comptroller Rejects Advice
PENSACOLA, Fla. — Discovering that their $44 million portfolio of mortgage derivatives was worth just $19 million was bad enough. But that was just the beginning: Now Escambia County’s commissioners have to decide what to…More
I Owe U.: How a Texas College Mortgaged Its Future In Derivatives Debacle — Odessa’s Finance Chief Bet Ranch, Had 3 Big Years, Then Saw Disaster Strike — Student of Volatile Securities
ODESSA, Texas — Roger Coomer had what every trader dreams of — hot hands. Juggling telephone calls from brokers while restlessly shifting his gaze between television and computer screens filled with financial information, Dr. Coomer…More
