Editor's Letter

Into the Eye of Newt

Will Newt Gingrich run for president? Not if his wife can stop him, and Marianne Gingrich thinks she can. That is just one of the many revelations in "The Inner Quest of Newt Gingrich," contributing editor Gail Sheehy's absorbing profile on page 147 of the powerful Speaker of the House. But because Gingrich has so dominated the American political scene since the Republican triumph last November, he merits as close scrutiny as any major candidate.

The story seemed tailor-made for Sheehy, whose memorable Vanity Fair character portraits of the men who sought the White House in 1988 had a significant impact on that race and on media coverage of the campaign. The Boston Globe called her "the top writer on presidential politics today."

Even though Sheehy was still working on the final chapters of New Passages, which has since soared to the top of The New York Times's nonfiction best-seller list, she could not resist the challenge of profiling Gingrich. Over the course of five months and 70 interviews—with everyone from his mother, sisters, and stepfather to his wife— she unveiled the forces that shaped him. From the Speaker

himself, she learned of the mythic heroes with whom he identifies, and the childhood scars that still resonate.

This issue has more than its share of investigations, and special correspondent Maureen Orth is responsible for two remarkable reports. Her story on page 70 on Mohamed A1 Fayed, the proprietor of Harrods and the Ritz hotel in Paris, is a tour de force, especially given that the mysterious Fayed is one of the most litigious men in Britain and is engaged in a vicious battle with the Tory party.

Also, on page 114, Orth revisits the Michael Jackson scandal, which she examined in depth for Vanity Fair in 1993. By the simple process of fact-checking Jackson's interview with ABC's Prime Time Live, she reveals how completely he snookered a major network—and duped its 60 million viewers. Her very different subjects have one thing in common, Orth says: "Both Mohamed A1 Fayed and Michael Jackson will spend any amount of money and go to any length to get their version of their story to the public."