From the Publisher

By Robert L Miller

Imagine a college class without tests or term papers, one in which students come face-to-face with some of the most talented people in American life. We did, not long ago, and now TIME is sponsoring an extraordinary lecture series at New York University's School of Continuing Education called "The Creative Edge." Organized by Richard Brown, an assistant professor of humanities, the program uses both film and live interviews to explore the creative process of six great artists: writers Arthur Miller and Tom Wolfe, dancer Rudolf Nureyev, composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, actress Helen Hayes and photographer Yousuf Karsh. "We saw this as a special opportunity," says Anne Janas, our manager of public affairs. "These are all people at the top of their fields and people TIME has written about throughout their careers."

Our sponsorship of the N.Y.U. program is part of a long-standing tradition of support for education and the arts. Since 1935, the TIME Education Program has helped teachers put our magazine to use in the classroom. Three years ago, we began awarding $3,000 scholarships to 20 outstanding college students from around the country for their academic and extracurricular achievements. We have donated more than 1,500 original artworks made for TIME covers to the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, where they are permanently displayed.

"The Creative Edge" struck us as an exciting way to expand our educational contributions. The goal of the program, says N.Y.U.'s Brown, has been to answer the question "What is it really like to create?"

The audience that gathered last week for an evening with Nureyev caught a glimpse of the answer. On-screen, the dancer leaped and pirouetted in a dazzling 20-minute film review of his career. But the best was yet to come. When the lights went up, Nureyev strode onstage for a one-hour interview with Brown. The ebullient dancer talked candidly about his theatrical life, from his youth in the Soviet Union to his present role as artistic director of the Paris Opera Ballet. While performances like that are hard acts to follow, TIME and N.Y.U. are already plotting a regular series of "Creative Edge" encores for next year.