E-mail from Lee Sheldon (Headwriter, 1983-84). February 4, 2000. Mark, After Edge ended I was slated to take over as head writer on As the World Turns. There was a WGA writer's strike, and I was forced to stop work on AWT. I did do some longterm story writing for Another World as late as 1994, but except for an experimental soap for PBS (WGBH in Boston) called "The Perkins Family" my path was indeed headed away from soaps. I had two job offers waiting back on the west coast after Edge: "Blacke's Magic" and "The Colby's." If I'd picked "The Colby's" I might still be writing soaps today. But I am at heart (despite what some posters on your board may think) a mystery writer. And "Blacke's Magic" was a golden opportunity to get back to my favorite sub-genre: impossible crimes. Yes, John Dickson Carr is my favorite mystery writer! I received my second Edgar nomination for an episode of that show. As you know, I managed some impossible crimes on Edge: the murder in the gazebo and Logan Swift are a couple that come to mind. After "Blacke's Magic" became the highest rated NBC show ever cancelled , I wrote and produced for Tim Reid's mystery series "Snoops" and a couple of other series as well. I was writer/producer on the 4th season of Star Trek, and had my hand in developing most of the episodes that season, although my producing credit is only on a few. Since 1981 however I had also been flirting with another medium: interactive. I wrote a TV pilot right before accepting the "Edge of Night" job that was co-produced by Atari, and used video games in its premise. And in 1984 I had proposed using 900 numbers (a new thing then) to allow the viewers to have a say in the course of stories, relationships, etc. on Edge to help the ratings. In 1994 I began writing and designing computer games, and the following year gave up TV to concentrate on this new field. Since then I have written and/or directed and/or produced and/or designed 10 of them, including "Ripley's Believe It Or Not!: The Riddle of Master Lu", "Dark Side of the Moon," and most recently "The Wild, Wild West: The Steel Assassin about the "true" conspiracy behind the death of Abraham Lincoln. Now I'm helping to create the internet's first adventure/RPG/medieval soap opera (yes, it's true, lol) called The Gryphon Tapestry. I love the challenge of creating stories in what is essentially an entirely non-linear, open-ended universe full of real people. We're doing things with stories that people have said are impossible, a word that has always appealed to me. :) Lee Message from John Barranco (Co-writer of the 1976-84 theme music). February 14, 1999: It was certainly a surprise to hear that someone still remembered "The Edge of Night" not to mention is a webmaster for its own website. The mystery that you have tried to solve regarding the singer for the theme song is over. I sang the song for the show. I lived in New York City for twenty years as a writer and one of the top-ten jingle singers in the city. I now live in Nashville still writing and singing, and am the director for "Freedom Kids Records", a Christian record company that is a subsidiary of Malaco Records out of Jackson, MS, which by the way is where I am originally from. By the way, if you have a theme song version sung by a female, it would be a lady by the name of Kacey Cisyk who was one of the biggest jingle singers in the country and who recently died of cancer at her home in New York. If it was a duet, it would be she and I. To answer some of your other questions, I wrote the lyric and part of the melody while Jack Cortner wrote the music and also part of the melody. This was a competition between other writers if my memory serves me correctly. We wrote this for our dear friend Elliot Lawrence. I never had any direct dealings with Procter & Gamble. I don't believe it took me more than an hour to write the lyrics, and Jack took about as long for the music once we got together. When you work in New York as a writer, part of your job description is to have it done yesterday. If there is anything else I can help you with, please do not hesitate to call. I am certainly flattered that the show is considered a classic soap. God Bless, Johnny Barranco. Message from Jack Cortner (co-writer of the 1976-84 theme music). February 13, 1999. John Barranco is the singer as well as the co-composer of the theme. Originally, I had written an instrumental that was some time before being asked to include a vocal version. On the instrumental version, there is a singer, Kacey Cisyk, (who was my wife at the time). She sings no lyrics but rather a low part, singing "ahs" along with an instrument. When asked to do a vocal, I collaborated with John Barranco who wrote his own lyrics and sang a new melody on top of the previous instrumental version. It took John (who is a fast worker) only about an hour and a half to complete the vocal version. I was hired by Elliot Lawrence to write the original theme. I also wrote "As the World Turns" and collaborated on "Search for Tomorrow" with Jon Silbermann and John Barranco, both produced by Elliot Lawrence. I have lived in New York since 1960 and have made my living here as an arranger and composer. Much of my work has been arranging commercials for the many music houses here that specialize in jingles and commercial underscores. I still work on tv shows for Elliot... the Tony Awards TV show and the Kennedy Center Honors tv show that airs during the December holidays. Hope this fills in some of the gaps in your website. I haven't had a chance to check it out yet, but will this weekend. Sincerely, Jack Cortner. Message from Teal Ames (Sarah Lane Karr, 1956-61). December 3, 1998: What a suprise that I am remembered after so many years. I left Edge in 1960 after five years as Sarah Karr. I am pleased that so many people enjoyed the show for so many years. I am living in California and have three children and three grandchildren. I later became a Marriage, Family, and Child Counselor with my own private practice. Since retiring I have done a few commercials and Nash Bridges and General Hospital. Just enough to have some fun with my first love, acting. Thanks for the memories. Teal Ames. [[email protected]]