TIME has no front page in the newspaper sense of the word, but we have always paid special attention to the first page of the Nation section. Traditionally that has been the spot for our lead article, known in office jargon as the "Nation lede." Almost invariably it deals with some major event--more often than not, the actions of the President. The Nation lede, of course, is still there, but it has moved a little farther into the magazine. Now it is preceded by a feature that the editors introduced 18 months ago, entitled American Notes.

Varied though they are (and are meant to be), they have certain things in common. They are short. They reflect American life. An American Note may simply relate a funny or poignant incident, but it usually has some special significance. It may be a minor vignette or a brief comment on a major event; it may underscore the important or puncture the absurd. "The ideal item," says Nation Editor Jason McManus, "contains a moral, or a quality of fable, or the nucleus of some atom of the national mood."

We like to think of the feature as a kind of conversation by and about the American community. As such, American Notes juxtapose the offbeat with more conventional subjects. Last week, for instance, the item about a storekeeper so riled by robberies that he let rattlesnakes loose in his shop was more than an oddity; it was a commentary on a frame of mind. This week's account of a union's troubles with its own unionized employees deals with the ultimate possibilities of such a paradox.

Lance Morrow normally writes American Notes, as well as handling other Nation assignments (he is the author of seven cover stories). A Harvard alumnus ('63, magna cum laude), Morrow has written poetry and plays, acted, worked as a newspaper reporter in Washington and once spent nearly a year touring the U.S. in an old Volkswagen bus. According to McManus, "Morrow has the highest velocity vocabulary of any writer on TIME. But even his most recherche words are so exquisitely targeted that they often cannot be changed. Now we only allow him three zingers per issue."

Says Morrow: "American Notes are fragments that you can seize upon and draw conclusions from. At best, they have a quality of surprise." He generally writes the notes at home, two cats on his lap and his wife Brooke, a former TIME researcher, near by in case an idea needs a test reaction. His current hobby is a survey of Howard Johnson's french-fried onion rings. Explains Morrow: "Their quality, like the rest of American life, varies enormously."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.