It's not that Reeves, a Raleigh magazine publisher, wants Castro to die. It's just that if the Cuban dictator had the good grace to do so by Aug. 23, Reeves would not consider that to be a tragic event. He would think of it as a continuation of his lucky marketing streak.

Reeves, in addition to being the brains (and the bulk -- which is substantial) behind Metro Magazine, is the organizer of the annual Raleigh International Spy Conference, which is scheduled for Aug. 23 through 25. Each of the three previous conferences was built around a theme, and this year's is no different. Its theme is "Castro and Cuba: The Inside Story."

Reeves didn't think up that theme within the past few weeks, when news broke that the seriously ill Castro had turned over power to his brother, Raul. The conference was planned months ago. Nor did Reeves know about Castro's condition when he decided to forgo the usual here's-something-about-North-Carolina cover for Metro and instead featured a photo of Fidel and Raul Castro on the front of the August issue.

No, Reeves just got lucky. Castro, who has served as America's bearded bogeyman for nearly five decades, pushed his way into the news at exactly the right moment -- at least as far as Reeves and the spy conference are concerned.

The only thing that could be better is if Castro kicks off on the first day of the conference. Considering the way the planets have lined up for Reeves, Fidel better be picking out a suit to be buried in next week. If he's not already dead -- am I the only person who thought the most recent photo looked like a wax stand-in from Madame Tussauds? -- the tide is clearly running against him.

Reeves happily admits that this is proof of the notion that it's sometimes better to be lucky than good. Focusing this year's spy conference on Castro wasn't his brainstorm, he says. Instead, it was suggested to him by a former top official in the CIA. "But I was smart enough to realize it was a good idea," Reeves says.

The conference is a bit of an oddity, in both its topic and its location. There are not too many public forums in which old espionage hands from both sides of the Cold War have held forth on the nuts and bolts of spying. Evidence of the unusual nature of the conference came during its inaugural event in 2003, when an FBI agent wanted a list of all registrants.

Reeves, after mulling the "request," finally decided that since it was a public event, there was no reason to not comply.

There's also the inescapable fact that Raleigh just doesn't register on the spy world's radar. When you think of spy cities, you think of Berlin, Casablanca or Moscow -- not Raleigh.

So why is the International Spy Conference held here? Simple answer: Because Reeves has an obsessive interest in spies, and because he's got enough money to indulge his strange hobby.

That's why there will be a pair of bona fide spies here next week, both of them old Cuba hands with the CIA, as well as a handful of other intelligence experts and 200 or so attendees.

Here's my advice: If you go, sign the registration form with a name like "Oleg Brezhnev." You might as well give the FBI something to keep busy with.

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