Love Affair with Life and Smithsonian

Thompson in 1937 came from the Milwaukee Journal to New York City and the newborn Time Inc. picture weekly, Life, served as managing editor for 20 of its glory years and was eased out when TV began to suck the spirit from general magazines. This matter-of-fact memoir recalls the productive genius and testy temperaments of star photographers such as Alfred Eisenstadt and W. Eugene Smith, the internal rivalry among editors and the almost flighty management style of owner Henry Luce. There are no sensational revelations here. Thompson describes his North Dakota boyhood and wartime army intelligence days and reports from the catbird seat on exactly how Life went about showing its readers the world--rushing air-sea rescue film cross-country overnight to beat a deadline; pestering Truman, MacArthur and the Duke of Windsor for their memoirs; photographing in depth such subjects as the American ``career girl,'' the then-pioneering space program, life in a small Spanish town and mega-projects such as The World We Live In--all with a strong sense of history in color and black-and-white and with the Time-Life conviction ``We're the best!'' Photos not seen by PW. (Nov.)