The Talk of the Town First Days of J by Anthony Hiss. Talk story about "The Big Giveaway," New York cable television's first game show. At 11:34 last Tuesday night "The Big Giveaway" began live narrowcasting on public-leased Channel J from a Manhattan Cable TV studio on E. 23rd St. to TV viewers on the southern half of Manhattan Island. Tells...

Letter from London New York Notes by Mollie Panter-Downes. The National Theatre made its final appearance at the Old Vic, its home since 1963, in a gala charity performance. The cast of stars appeared in Val May's "Tribute to the Lady"- this being the name given by her long-suffering, devoted staff to Lilian Baylis, the extraordinary woman who...

Fiction The Confident Man by Richard Sacks. Brian's 88 year old step-grandfather, Ike, lives in Hoboken, New Jersey with Brian's grandmother, Frieda. Brian and his wife of two years, Rhea, live in Brooklyn and often receive letters, filled with news clippings, from Ike. Frieda is hospitalized and, within a short time, dies. Ike, who for years...

Around City Hall Nomenclature by Andy Logan. The Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Affairs Committee of New York's City Council voted last month to give the name Zion Square to the southwest corner of United Nations Plaza, the promenade in front of the UN buildings. An easy passage by the Council is predicted. Five days later a bill...

The Talk of the Town Burns by Mark Singer. Talk story about George Burns and his recent, soldout show at Carnegie Hall. Before the show, the writer had lunch with Burns, his manager, Irving Fein, and Goodman Ace, the comedy writer. Describes Burns's appearance and relates several of his jokes and anecdotes. Tells how people react to Burns's presence...

Annals of War Friendly Fire~III by C. D. B. Bryan. ANNALS OF WAR about the operation Charlie Company was engaged in when, on Feb. 18, 1970, American artillery firing a defensive target in Vietnam killed Michael Mullen and Leroy Hamilton, and wounded 6 others. The fire fell short because a lieutenant at the Fire Direction Center failed to take the...

The Talk of the Town Symbols by Anthony Hiss. Talk story about the opening of Robert Venturi's 400 thousand dollar Bicentennial celebration of American life: "Signs of Life: Symbols in the American City." The show, presented at the Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery with "contributions from American citizens, corporations, and government agencies, is a collage of photographs and artifacts representative of...

Jazz by Whitney Balliett.

Fiction Colorado by Ann Beattie. Penelope, Robert, Johnny, and Cyril had shared a house in the country outside New Haven while they were all in graduate school. Now they are no longer in school, they're living in different apartments or have left the city. Penelope is living with a man named Dan but spends most...

Musical Events A Song to Grace Penelope by Andrew Porter.

The Race Track Traffic Jam by Audax Minor. Seven years ago, Rudy Turcotte, then an apprentice, won on six of his eight mounts at Aqueduct one afternoon. The other day, Ron, his elder brother, won on six out of nine. Wonder when Roger, the youngest Turcotte jockey, will score...

The Current Cinema A Piece of Music by Pauline Kael. Review of the Claude Sautet film "Vincent, Francois, Paul, and the Others...

Comment by Jonathan Schell. As the Presidential campaign begins, the country seems to be in confusion not only about who the next President should be but also about what a President is and what one is for - the uses of statesmanship itself. In thinking over what the relationship between the statesman and the public...

The Theatre THE GOOD OLD DAYS by Brendan Gill.

Poetry Looming: An Address To Matthew Fontaine Maury (1806-1873) by Dave Smith. In Cumberland I had one uncle...

Poetry The Butterfly by Joseph Brodsky. Should I say that you're dead...

Poetry Evening by Luke Breit. first, it is just...