er was, but not surprised that his information was out of date. "Dillen- Tough Calls schneider left Hill & Knowlton some time ago. He has his own shop now, but he doesn't work for us. In fact, I think they've done work for MCI, SO it would be a conflict," I said. "Okay. Thanks. That's all I need." "But, Alex, don't you want He had already hung up. And I would not put this conversation together with our chat on the corpo- rate jet for another month. Olympic Moments The opening ceremonies of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta were held on July I6 in warm, but not oppressive weather. The AT&T executives and their guests were protected from the crowds and the humidity in a three-story tent constructed in the middle of Centennial Park around the main entertainment stage. Bob Allen was noshing on hors d'oeuvres when I brought him word that the papers in France were reporting that the head of our European operations was leaving the company. I wanted to know if it was true and, if so, what I should say. "If he wants to leave, let him leave," he said. That wasn't exactly what I was asking, but I took it as an answer. What I didn't know until much later was that Allen had earlier received a phone call from Hal Burlingame, the head of Human Resources, reporting on a meeting he had just finished with Alex Mandl. When we reached the stadium for the opening ceremonies, Allen told his security people that his wife was not feeling well and the crowds were making her claustrophobic. He expressed his regrets to the business customers we had invited and asked to be taken back to his hotel. He flew back to New Jersey that night. What had actually happened was that Allen, who suffered from a congenital narrowing of the aortic valve, was experiencing what his doctor called "an epi- sode." He couldn't catch his breath, and he felt dizzy. He would un- dergo an operation to replace the valve the following February. Meanwhile, he kept the symptoms from everyone except his wife. The Spider at the Center of the Web In the history of AT&T from the