ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, October 23, 1996 TAG: 9610230031
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
A TV film crew was due shortly at the North Carolina home of Joe and Terry Graedon, and Terry was still vacuuming the living room rug. Virginia Cassell, producer of the couple's "The People's Pharmacy" radio show, scrubbed the kitchen counter.
Life at the Graedons' is not neat, unless you're using the word to describe a couple who have lived and worked together for 25 years, who write three syndicated newspaper columns weekly and who are the co-hosts of one of National Public Radio's most successful shows.
"There are two things we don't do well actually that we're pretty awful at," says Joe Graedon. "One is housekeeping. There's a lot of dust in places. The other is organization. We hate to file. We get so much paper we have piles everywhere."
This evening from 7-8, the Graedons will do a live broadcast from the WVTF public radio studio in Roanoke as part of the station's fall fund drive. The regular Wednesday Graedon show that the station carries each week has been pre-recorded the previous Saturday.
The Graedon name has been associated with consumer drug information since 1978 when Joe began doing commentaries for WUNC public radio in Chapel Hill, N.C. That year, he also started a newspaper column distributed through King Features Syndicate and now carried by more than 500 newspapers, including The Roanoke Times. "The People's Pharmacy" radio show airs over more than 500 radio stations and cable television affiliates.
Whether for radio or newspaper, the North Carolina couple's intentions are the same, to give consumers information that's not easy to get. They use expert guests and a "Car Talk" type of exchange between Joe and Terry to tackle topics as varied as vitamin labeling and penile implants.
Joe Graedon is a pharmacologist, which is someone who studies how drugs work. He still occasionally lectures at the University of North Carolina School of Pharmacy. Terry Graedon is a medical anthropologist who taught at Duke University's School of Nursing until 1981 when she joined her husband as coauthor of their books and columns.
They have been collaborators since and do their writing from their home near Charlotte. They talked about their partnership during a telephone interview last week.
"We love what we do," says Joe. "The bad news is we work a lot more than we probably should."
Or, as Terry puts it: "We are so lucky because we are doing work we are interested in and working with the best work partner we could have."
Cassell, their producer and sometime house cleaner, says some fans have told her they listen to the Graedons' show just to hear them interact as a couple and to look for clues on what makes a successful relationship.
Joe is 51, and Terry will be 49 in December. They have been married for 25 years, and 24-hour togetherness has not been a problem, they said.
When they're writing a column, or working on a book, and aren't pressured by a deadline they both sit down at the same computer and bounce ideas around, Joe said.
Each Tuesday, the couple tries to go out to lunch carrying the recent reader mail. They eat and read letters looking for the one or two that present a special idea or challenge.
In addition to the column based on reader mail, they write a second column on a special subject of their own choosing. A recent one was on handwashing and why it's important.
"It's our chance to pontificate," Joe says.
The third weekly column, begun a year and a half ago, is devoted to home remedies, vitamins, herbs and alternative treatments.
By each Wednesday, the couple has started composing the columns, with one writing and the other editing.
"We don't ever get tired of each other, but we do sometimes disagree," Terry says. "But we've had enough time to work out the kinks. If one person says, 'This is not the right paragraph,' the other person understands that it's a constructive critique."
"The truth is that when we're not together is the more difficult part of it," says Joe.
Terry stays "centered" by studying karate and will take her black-belt exam in two weeks. Karate classes, which Terry began in 1984, keep her motivated to do other exercise, she said. She walks and gardens.
Joe plays tennis since he ran into a wall last year during a squash game and banged up his back.
"It was painful to re-evaluate my passion for squash now that I'm over 50," he said.
These health tidbits are things Joe and Terry likely would share in a radio broadcast. The Graedons are part of that "huge population," the baby boomers, that has become interested in health, Joe says.
"The baby boomer male is about 48, 49, 50 and discovering his ankles and his knees aren't what they used to be, that he may be having trouble with the keyboard because his fingers get a little stiff and that he's going to the bathroom more often," says Joe.
The Graedons also are seeing an increase in requests for information about menopause and post-menopausal products, Terry said.
Their radio show was nationally syndicated in May 1993 and takes a holistic approach to health care. It is provided to public radio stations at no charge.
Joe and Terry Graedon will broadcast ``The People's Pharmacy'' tonight from 7-8 from the studios of WVTF public radio in Roanoke.
LENGTH: Long : 106 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. The Graedons cover the spectrum of health-relatedby CNBsubjects in their call-in show, ``The People's Pharmacy.'' color. 2.
Some fans listen to the Graedons' show just to hear them interact as
a couple and to look for clues on what makes
a successful relationship. KEYWORDS: PROFILE