Maclean's

COVER

THE FASTEST MAN

It was just before noon, and the athlete who is billed as the fastest man in the world was immersed in the commercial rituals that have become a way of life for sports celebrities. Standing on a staircase last week in the lobby of the Toshiba of Canada building, 25 km northeast of Toronto, Ben Johnson—the holder of four world track records, including his breathtaking 9.83-second run over 100 m in Rome last August-smiled at company officials while photographers recorded the scene. By MARK NICHOLS11 min

50

TELEVISION

The war over words in Hollywood

Among the sure signs of summer’s end are children returning to school, trees turning crimson— and the TV networks promoting their new programs. But this year, students will be planning their Halloween costumes and the leaves will be piling up on the ground before the new television season gets under way.

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COVER

FIERCE RIVALS ON THE TRACK

It was after midnight in Rick’s Bar in Indianapolis and four hours after Carl Lewis had lost a 200-m race for the first time in two years. Lewis— much of his former flamboyance now muted—picked at a shrimp salad and took a rest from addressing the world on the subject of Carl Lewis. By NEIL WILSON6 min

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COVER

STRIVING TO EXCEL

Graeme Fell, 29, who is ranked first in Canada in the 3,000-m steeplechase, said that in May he was in the best condition of his 16-year track career. But late that month, he had to undergo an emergency appendectomy. Now, said Fell, “I’m not even thinking about the Olympics—I’m just taking it day by day, trying to get my form back.” By ANNE STEACY6 min

42

CITIES

Dublin throws a party

The Vikings returned to Dublin last month. About 70 Norwegians and Danes, descendants of the fierce Norsemen who founded the Irish capital more than 1,000 years ago, rowed replicas of Viking longboats up the muddy River Liffey into the heart of the city. By ANDREW PHILLIPS6 min

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WORLD

Talking peace in war

Just eight days after Iran’s surprise announcement that it was willing to accept United Nations peacemaking terms, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati met with UN Secretary General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar in New York City to start negotiating a ceasefire in the eight-year-old Persian Gulf war with Iraq.

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CANADA

The new weapons of war

Three decades ago, Canada’s CF-104 jet fighter was the acme of aircraft design, a bullet-fast stiletto of an airplane that could outclimb and outfight any opponent. But by 1974, when Lt.-Col. Ian Struthers began flying the CF-104, it was a museum piece. By MARC CLARK6 min

12

CANADA

Where does a prime minister run?

During the 1984 federal election campaign, a giant banner fluttered over Laure Avenue in SeptIles, the largest city in Prime Minister Brian Mulroney’s sprawling riding of Manicouagan, on Quebec’s North Shore. The banner read “Hope has a name— Brian Mulroney.”

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BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Chasing pizza profits

Peddling pizza may sound dull, but it often attracts the ambitious and the offbeat. Consider Thomas Monaghan, president of Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Domino’s Pizza Inc. Monaghan is planning an office building that will be a 35-storey Leaning Tower of Pizza. By PATRICIA CHISHOLM5 min

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BUSINESS

The battle over the size of Eastern

Frank Lorenzo, the aggressive entrepreneur who parlayed a $2,000 investment into America’s largest airline holding company, Houston-based Texas Air Corp., has a firm reputation for opposing organized labor. Shortly after he took over Continental Airlines Corp. in 1982, Lorenzo used a novel technique to defeat the company’s unions: after reorganizing his company under the protection of U.S. bankruptcy laws, he fought and won a long court battle that gave him the right to nullify Continental’s union contracts. By DAVID LINDORFF5 min