Pg… 4 PUBLISHER’S NOTE Pg… 6 MOMENTS IN LIFE Pg… 14 LETTERS Pg… 19 NOTES FROM THE INTERIOR Can We Talk? by Roger Rosenblatt Pg… 22 EDUCATION Yearning to Learn With public education in chaos, two teachers offer innovative solutions Pg… 24 Bayton’s Boys Do the Right Thing A class of lost kids is rescued by a wise and loving teacher Pg… 36 Getting to the Core What should children know? Educator E. D. Hirsch suggests some controversial ideas by Peter Meyer Pg… 40 Too Near the Sun If the plan worked, climbing Everest would be the easy part by Claudia Glenn Dowling Pg… 58 Palio In the name of the Virgin and centuries of tradition, Siena, Italy, hosts a rowdy horse race Photographs by Gianni Giansanti Pg… 64 BOOK EXCERPT Scarlett: The Sequel to Gone With the Wind Does she get him back? Finally, the world has an answer by Alexandra Ripley Pg… 76 Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Making an audience laugh is no joke Photographs by Arthur Grace Pg… 87 SNAPSHOT Picturing Happiness by Lynda Barry Pg… 88 JUST ONE MORE