ABSTRACT
In 1986, at age sixty-nine, a year from compulsory retirement, the author was asked to be editor of American Sociological Review (ASR). He accepted with some ambivalence because it would delay his research on union politics in America. Yet adding another book to his vita was no big deal so he put his research aside. Past experiences with some editors convinced him that they had not always read the manuscript. The author decided to read every paper and write his review before reading other reviews and making decisions. Over the years, ASR had lost some of its attractiveness as a result of changes ordered by Council. Book reviews were removed to a new journal, Contemporary Sociology, American Sociological Association (ASA) affairs were consigned to the house organ, Footnotes, sophisticated methods articles were shifted to a new journal, Sociological Methodology, Sociological Theory became an annual and then a semi-annual.
