MEMO from the publisher

On page 15 of this issue we present an article by the President-elect of the United States. As far as we know, he is the first President-elect ever to write a major policy statement for publication in a magazine under his byline. You might be interested to know how this came about.

Impressed by his family's lively interest in sport and recreation, the editors of SPORTS ILLUSTRATED approached Candidate Kennedy last September to discuss the possibility of his writing on the subject in our annual year-end issue, with particular reference to the importance of sport in American life and the place of physical fitness in the development of the whole man. The candidate agreed that he liked both the forum and the subject. On the eventful day in Hyannisport when his victory had just been conceded, he let the editors know that he was prepared to honor his pre-election commitment.

This, he said, he would do immediately during his postcampaign sojourn in Palm Beach. But his life grew more complicated day by day. The baby Mrs. Kennedy had been expecting arrived a month early, causing the new father to leave Palm Beach for Washington before he could finish his writing task.

Thus, the President-elect, having finished a step ahead of his opponent in the presidential race and a step behind in his race with the stork, found himself in a new race to meet a deadline for SPORTS ILLUSTRATED readers. All the time he was conferring and consulting and personally introducing one by one the newly chosen members of his official family.

Despite all these pressures, Mr. Kennedy got his article in on time. We are enormously grateful to the President-elect for the way in which he honored his commitment to us—and, far more important, to sport. We hope you will agree that his article proposes a program certain to advance the nation's prestige abroad and its strength at home.

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KENNEDY MAKES NOTES FOR SI