Comment by James Stevenson. A friend writes that last Sunday he and his 12-year-old daughter went for a drive in the country. They decided they'd take a walk if they saw a good place. They drove through a village, passed a gas station; then woods began. "This looks nice," his daughter said...

Musical Events Testimony by Andrew Porter.

The Theatre WOMEN AS THINGS by Brendan Gill.

Letter from Europe by Jane Kramer. Writer was in Athens last month. Andreas Papandreou, the new Prime Minister, had just created more of a scandal by legalizing civil marriage than he had by entertaining Yasir Arafat as one of the first official visitors of his administration. Papandreou's party is called the Panhellenic Socialist Movement and goes...

The Talk of the Town Cordial by Alec Wilkinson. Talk story about a recently given preview of the new headquarters of the Chemical Bank, at 277 Park Ave., between 47th and 48th Streets. The audience consisted of representatives of the press, employees of the bank, and employees of the N.Y. Botanical Garden who had overseen the planting in a...

A Reporter at Large HOMECOMING III-THE LONG LIFE OF THE FOUR OLDS by John Hersey. REPORTER AT LARGE about writer's recent visit to Tientsin, China, where he spent the first 11 years of his life. He was interested in the current state of cultural and intellectual life in China. His friend Ye Dezhuang was permitted to accompany him. As the writer said he was particularly...

Fiction Treading Water by Mavis Gallant. More Sturm und Drang from Cosima Wagner's Diaries) Parody of Cosima Wagner's Diaries. Daily entries for ten days. Eg., Sunday: Richard's good humor at breakfast makes me fear the worst. He taps out "If Volsa was your father" with his coffee spoon, all the while throwing sugar in the air...

The Talk of the Town Crane Man by Faith McNulty. Talk story about George Archibald and cranes. He has a Ph.D. in animal behavior and has studied cranes extensively and works to save endangered cranes. He and a fellow student, Ronald Sauey, decided to work together to conserve cranes. Sauey's parents owned a large piece of land in Baraboo, Wis...

Around City Hall AROUND CITY HALL COMINGS AND GOINGS by Andy Logan. The Chicago Tribune Company announced, last December, its intention to sell New York's Daily News. In April, Joe Allbritton signed a thirty-day letter of intent to buy the paper, but by month's end he had been unable to come to agreement with its employees' unions on concessions. When the...

Books Borges Warmed Over by John Updike.

Fiction Giacinto by Arturo Vivante. Lorenzo was an Italian married to an American woman. Each summer, his wife and two children went with him to his family's home in Umbria. One summer, Lorenzo had a brief love affair with a woman named Anna. Two years later, as soon as Lorenzo and his family arrived in...

Dancing The Prince and the Swan by Arlene Croce.

The Talk of the Town Fashion Artist by James Stevenson. Talk story about the fashion artist Fred Greenhill, who has been drawing ads for Lord and Taylor for the past 13 years. Writer watched Mr. Greenhill prepare an ad one recent afternoon as the model Bobbie Smyth posed for him. She had on a royal-blue-and-white pinstriped dress...

Concert Records / Popular Music Comic Haydn by Winthrop Sargeant.

Poetry Stopping on the Edge to Wave by James Baker Hall. light is on the edge...

Poetry Finches, Moths, Herons by Donna Joy. Without sound, sun melts snow...