A Letter From The Publisher: Mar. 9, 1962

TENNESSEE WILLIAMS was originally scheduled to be on TIME'S cover a week earlier. But, as TIME'S Theater Critic Ted Kalem wired him: GLENN AND WILLIAMS WERE ON SAME LAUNCHING PAD. GLENN MADE IT. WILLIAMS ORBITING FOLLOWING WEEK.

Back from his Key West pad came Williams' reply: ROGER. ALL SYSTEMS GO. COLONEL WILLIAMS.

This week's cover story is a good opportunity to introduce our theater man, who last fall replaced Louis Kronenberger, TIME'S distinguished first-nighter for 23 years. Kalem, 42, spent the preceding eleven years as a book reviewer for us, and will be remembered for his cover stories on Shakespeare,...