MAIL 6
PICKS & PANS 17
THE INSIDER 41
PASSAGES 59
PUZZLER 90
CHATTER 114

STAR TRACKS 8
Val Kilmer, Nicole Kidman and Jim Carrey have a wingding at the Batman Forever opening. Kevin Costner plays ball. Princess Diana shows she's well-red, and more

UP FRONT

42 This year America, next year the Olympics—beach volleyball hits the big time

48 When the sounds of silence at home became too much for her, deaf teen Sonya Kinney faced her parents in court

50 After dodging hostile Serbs and dining on ants and rainwater, rescued Air Force Capt. Scott O'Grady copes with the ordeal of celebrity

SEQUEL 55
Three weeks after his near-fatal horseback riding accident, paralyzed actor Christopher Reeve struggles to recover, supported by the love of family, friends and fans

TO THE TOP 63
Wonder Boys can turn into washed-up men, but not novelist Michael Chabon, who not only writes bestsellers but changes diapers too

TROUBLE 67
Her tiara in jeopardy because of her advanced age, 27-year-old beauty queen Staci Baldwin files suit to retain her Miss Washington USA crown

COVER 70
Having reinvented herself time and again in more than 20 movies, Meryl Streep plays Francesca to Clint Eastwood's Robert Kincaid in The Bridges of Madison County and puts the passion back into middle age

JOCKS 79
After his opponent dies from head injuries, guilt-ridden boxing champion Gabriel Ruelas is forgiven by the family of his accidental victim

STYLE 83
Shoe designer Patrick Cox helps Tom Cruise, Madonna and Sharon Stone put their best foot forward

MONEY 88
Burdened by tuition bills, Brown University coed Heidi Mattson table-danced her way through college at a Providence strip joint

OUT OF THE PAST 93
Imagine the shock of his wife and kids when 1960s GI George Warstler, declared dead by the Army in 1981, turned up in New Zealand

SCREEN 99
Congo star Laura Linney discovers that making the jungle thriller was more fun than a barrel of pseudo-simians

CONTROVERSY 105
Shocked by gangsta rap's sometimes violent, women-hating lyrics, C. DeLores Tucker wants Time Warner to pull the plug on some of its bestselling rap artists

ON THE JOB 108
Happily lacking in jurist prudence, The Tonight Show's Dancing Itos court disorder

WINNERS 110
The Ten Commandments' 10 commandments (in fiberglass); Casablanca's Best Picture Oscar; John Travolta's white disco suit: Christie's film and TV auction puts memories on the block