CONTRIBUTORS

When writer-at-large MARIE BRENNER first met Maria Shriver, 19 years ago, for a V.F. cover story, she observed that Shriver was marked by a "singular exuberance and an unmistakable seriousness." Today, as first lady of California, she remains as energetic and passionate. "The idea of Arnold Schwarzenegger as governor of California at first seemed like a Hollywood pitch meeting gone amok—the Terminator in the statehouse," Brenner says. "Now his first year in office— with the firm guidance of Shriver, his wife—is suddenly causing Republicans to seriously think of him as a possibility for reshaping the party. This surprises everyone but Schwarzenegger, who has always used his own life story as a template for success."

Over the last 50 years, ELLIOTT ERWITT has amassed a richly varied body of work that includes celebrated portraits of Marilyn Monroe and Che Guevara, as well as witty photographic studies of dogs. The world-renowned photographer, who shot the influential curator and critic John Szarkowski for this issue, relishes the freedom of his vocation. "The beauty of photography is that you don't do anything for too long," he says. "If you don't like something, you suffer for a bit and then you move on to the next thing." If his choice in subjects has been mercurial, Erwitt himself has stayed true to his belief that photography is observation—the capture of unmediated moments. A new anthology of his dog photographs, called Woof, will be published by PQ in the fall of 2005.

Women and power is a subject JUDITH NEWMAN knows rather well. She wrote about editor Bonnie Fuller for V.F. in March 2004, and this month she profiles HarperCollins's Judith Regan. Newman's admiration for Regan is what drew her to this story. "When Judith started, there were no role models for her," she says. "She was a trailblazer, which in turn can make a person both wildly creative and wildly difficult." Newman prefers to avoid confrontation, but is intrigued by those who don't. "I'm fascinated by people like Regan because they don't care if they are hated," she says. "I spend a long time thinking about how they can sleep at night." Newman's book You Make Me Feel Like an Unnatural Woman: Diary of a New (Older) Mother will come out in paperback from Miramax Books this spring.

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On page 128, contributing editor INGRID SISCHY (who is also the editor in chief of Interview magazine) profiles John Szarkowski, the director of photography at New York's MoMA from 1962 to 1991. "Today, photography is accepted as a major part of our lives— and John is the main reason," explains Sischy, the photography critic for The New Yorker from 1989 to 1996. Before championing the likes of Diane Arbus and Garry Winogrand, Szarkowski was a photographer himself, and since his retirement he has picked up the camera once again. Sischy is careful to remind readers that Szarkowski did have his detractors while he was director. "John had such a particular focus about what mattered, and he went for what he believed in."

It took screenwriter JOHN LOGAN five years and 15 drafts to write the Aviator script, an excerpt of which appears as a special pullout section at the back of the magazine. "You can't imagine how happy I am that this movie is [now] out," he says. "I am finally able to exorcise Howard Hughes from my life." For Logan, one of the most memorable parts of writing The Aviator was the creative give-and-take with director Martin Scorsese and actor Leonardo DiCaprio. "The three of us spent days and days and weeks on end literally reading the script out loud to make it as provocative, honest, and dramatic as we could." Logan, who was nominated for an Academy Award in 2000 for co-writing Gladiator, is currently adapting Stephen Sondheim's Tony Award-winning musical Sweeney Todd for the big screen.

As associate editorial business manager for V.F.,EILISH MORLEY is an indispensable component of the magazine—if she didn't oversee the payment of writers and editorial staff, there would be nothing but white space between the ads. While Morley is a selfproclaimed "Jersey girl," she loves to travelbefore starting at the magazine three years ago she spent six months touring Australia and Southeast Asia. Morley has always been curious to learn what the future will bring, so it's not surprising that her first stop in each new issue is her horoscope. "Before I worked here, I always wanted Michael Lutin to do my chart." How to explain her ineffaceable, glowing Irish smile? "Aries have been around only once," she says, "so they're excited about everything."

FOR DETAILS, SEE CREDITS PAGE