“What do you mean, Ed?” I wasn’t sure what he was talking about. Was he referring to Bowman? Then I remembered my conversation with Peggy Moran the previous day. Weiss must be assuming I was about to quit the paper, and he was launching a preemptive strike.

“I knew someone else was going to offer you a job eventually. You’re too damn good for other papers not to try to hire you away. Now, there’s nothing wrong with getting offers from the competition. It’s flattering—to you and to us. Just so long as you say no. otherwise, I’m going to kill you.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Ed,” I said, trying to think of how get the conversation back on track. Weiss continued with his pitch, oblivious to what I had just said.

“I don’t know how much they’re offering, but whatever it is, we can match it. Better it. I don’t want you to leave the Mirror because of money. You matter to our future. I don’t want to lose you.” I tried to interrupt again, but Weiss kept going. This was his style when he had something important to say—he bulled through it and recited everything that was on his mental cue cards before giving up the floor.

“The point is,” said Weiss, stretching out his arms as if to make room for the largeness of his message, “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking these past few months about the next generation of leaders at the paper. And I’ve decided—had decided before this job thing came up—that I want you to be part of that team. You’re one of the brightest young people we’ve got, and you should begin learning how the paper works. Not from the reporting side—hell, you know that already—but from the editing side. So I’d like you to come to New York this fall as deputy foreign editor. And assuming you do well—which you will—I’d like you to take over from Lynn Frenzel as foreign editor at the end of 1997. Assuming that you aren’t planning to do anything stupid, like leave the Mirror.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Ed,” I repeated more emphatically. “I don’t want to leave the Mirror.”

This time he finally heard me. A grin spread across his face. He reached for my hand and shook it. “Hot damn!” he said. “That’s great. What about coming to New York?”

“I don’t know. I’m very flattered, but I need to think about that. Right now, there’s something else we need to talk about.”