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Time Magazine Contents Page Vol. 134, No. 21 NOVEMBER 20, 1989

2 minute read
TIME

24

COVER: After nearly three decades as the cold war’s premier symbol, the Wall crumbles

With breathtaking speed, the hideous partition that split Berlin falls to the pickax of reforms inspired by Mikhail Gorbachev. As the city exults and the world ponders the consequences, one thing is certain: nothing will ever be quite the same again. — Is one Germany better than two? — An obituary for the Wall of Shame, where some 75 people yearning for freedom have perished.

54

NATION: In Virginia, Douglas Wilder cracks the color line to become the first black elected Governor

On a big day for black candidates, Wilder garners just enough white votes to win a narrow victory. His crossover strategy: soft-pedal race and stress abortion rights. — Why both sides are downplaying a U.S. payment to Iran. –Kitty and Mike Dukakis suffer a nightmare year.

18

INTERVIEW: Kate Braverman on writing from L.A.

In literature, geography is destiny, she says. But there is an influential new aesthetic emerging from what she calls the “palm latitudes.”

70

BUSINESS: The Big Three automakers face harder going

As car sales slow and Japanese “transplants” boost their output, Detroit is struggling. — A pilots’ strike cripples Australia. — Andrew Tobias on white- collar crime and punishment.

81

IDEAS: Teaching the Japanese how to say no

Expanding on the themes in his provocative new book, maverick legislator Shintaro Ishihara exhorts his countrymen to become assertive, especially in their dealings with the U.S.

91

CINEMA: A holiday feast of films, good, bad and enchanting

Thanksgiving starts the glut of year-end films: an all-star Steel Magnolias, a ponderous Valmont, a shaggy-dog story and one certified stunner, Disney’s fairy-tale cartoon The Little Mermaid.

101

ETHICS: The campaign to recognize gay marriages

Despite last week’s setback in San Francisco, homosexual lovers are winning rights as “domestic partners,” with resulting health, tax and housing benefits.

116

EDUCATION: New worries over classroom violence

Many schools are forced to spend more dollars on such security stratagems as metal detectors, concrete walls and, yes, bullet-ducking drills. — California refuels the evolution-vs.-creation debate.

108

TECHNOLOGY: Those incredible shrinking machines

From microscopic motors to gears with teeth no larger than blood cells, advances in miniaturization could lead to robots the size of a flea — not to mention a new generation of really portable computers.

12 Letters

22 Critics’ Voices

44 World

84 Design

89 Music

95 Video

96 People

98 Show Business

98 Religion

– 104 Books

118 Medicine

120 Milestones

Cover: Photograph by Chris Niedenthal

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