Better late than never.

• Author: Kinney, David
• Position: UP FRONT - Interview

We've been trying to do this month's cover story for more than five years, and it had been assigned for more than five months. But Ed Martin didn't get to talk to the subject until after he had finished writing it.

"We've been trying to interview Ken Lewis since 2001, when he succeeded Hugh McColl, as well we should have," our multi-award-winning senior editor says. "The position of president, CEO and chairman of Bank of America, in my estimation, makes the holder the dean of Tar Heel business, and as the state's most authoritative business publication, we'd have been remiss if we'd given up. That's true even if, as Lewis' aides have told us repeatedly, the bank has outgrown its North Carolina roots and become an international powerhouse. Or as one put it: 'North Carolina's just another state to Ken now.'"

Last May, we budgeted the Lewis profile for this issue, which focuses on banking, committing to do the piece with or without his cooperation. Ed began laying the groundwork and doing research. He read everything he could get his hands on that's been written about BofA's boss--surprisingly, there's not been that much, of any depth, even in the national media. He scoured public records. He interviewed dozens of sources, including people inside and outside the bank, including one Lewis had hired and a few he had fired. In mid-July, he placed his first call to a BofA public-relations executive, who didn't hold out much hope that Lewis would agree to talk.

But Ed is nothing if not persistent and was determined to meet this man he'd been working so hard to know. Finally, we could wait no longer. "I began writing what I had reported in late September, still...