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Author is a chip off the old writer's block

 
Published June 26, 1995|Updated Oct. 4, 2005

Times syndicated columnist Robert K. Heady isn't the only financial journalist in his family. Heady and his 27-year-old daughter, Christy, have teamed up to write The Complete Idiot's Guide to Managing Your Money, published by the Alpha Books division of Macmillan Computer Publishing.

"We have high hopes for the book because everybody has a problem," Christy Heady said. "There are a lot more people who feel like complete idiots than feel like they have a grasp on their investments and personal finance. My father taught me to write for the average Joe and Jane, because there are a lot more of them."

Ms. Heady, a Chicago-based freelance writer, is one of six Heady children, all of whom worked at one time or another for their dad's Bank Rate Monitor newsletter in North Palm Beach. She also trained as a stockbroker and wrote another book, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Making Money on Wall Street, which was published last year.

The two of them spent a little more than three months on Managing Your Money. Father wrote the chapters on banking, credit, interest rates and mortgages, while daughter contributed the sections on investing, insurance, taxes and financial planning.

The book sells for $16.99 and includes an offer for a $3 rebate.

_ HELEN HUNTLEY

Meeting gets a dose

of drug industry talk

Tech Data Corp. chief executive Steve Raymund spent most of his time at last week's annual meeting talking about what you might expect: the ins and outs of distributing computer products and software.

That is, after all, Tech Data's business.

But Raymund kept hinting of his interest in another industry: drugs.

Distributing computer products is an efficient industry, but it's still far behind the business of distributing pharmaceuticals.

Tech Data is trying to create an electronic system that will let its wholesale customers check product inventory and prices. That's a service some pharmaceutical distributors have offered for years.

Enter Charles E. Adair, a 19-year veteran of the pharmaceuticals distribution business. That's a background Tech Data obviously wants to tap to improve its own operations. At the annual meeting, Raymund mentioned Adair _ the latest addition to Tech Data's board of directors _ at least three times.

_ ROBERT TRIGAUX

Sorry, Dr. Foster; have

you tried Clearwater?

Lots of people are ready to give suggestions when a big hospital is looking for a new chief executive. But Horizon Hospital, the Clearwater psychiatric hospital that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March, got some special advice Friday from U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Alexander Paskay.

"Just talk to anyone in Washington who's lost their job lately," Paskay said. "Maybe you could get Dr. (Henry) Foster."

Foster is the Clinton administration nominee for surgeon general who lost his confirmation bid in the Senate last week.

_ SARAH COHEN

Troubled consumers get

a line to call their own

From bureaucratic red tape to phone scams and faulty products, the federal government is lending an ear to consumer complaints.

This week the Office of Consumer Affairs opened a toll-free Helpline to give person-to-person assistance to consumers who need information or referrals.

The number is a clearinghouse for consumer problems, said Bernice Friedlander, acting director of the consumer affairs office. The Helpline tells callers which agency or organization they should contact _ local, state or federal _ for help.

More than 1,000 people called the Helpline during its first week. The line is open only between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, but consumers who call after hours can leave a message and expect a returned call within 24 hours, Friedlander said.

The number is (800) 664-4435.

_ AMY WIMMER

Home Shopping sells itself

To sell diamond solitaires and silk blouses to shoppers, St. Petersburg-based Home Shopping Network Inc. has to make sure cable and broadcast affiliates around the country carry its TV broadcasts.

That's where Paradigm Communications comes in.

The Tampa agency has designed a new marketing kit called "Home Is Where You Want To Be." It includes the usual promotional stuff: logo stickers, posters and brochures.

But it also pushes the virtues of Home Shopping with a video that describes the behind-the-scenes action at the company, a card game that gives winners discount coupons, and printed material to teach potential employees all about Home Shopping.

More than 200 kits have been sent out, said Tona Bell, Paradigm Communications spokeswoman. Only time will tell how many new affiliates sign up.

_ LARA WOZNIAK