Illiterate workers in industrial jobs can endanger themselves and fellow workers by misreading warning signs and can cost companies millions by misreading instructions. The problem of literacy is also apparent in offices, where often dictated correspondence must be retyped at least once because of errors. Of 800 companies surveyed, 35% felt they had to supplement their employees' education with basic English and business writing courses. A major paper company has taken similar approaches to solving the problem of employee illiteracy, with financial grants to education, by underwriting a teaching manual, and by sponsoring reading and writing programs across the country. The company's major program is a series of two-page "how-to" articles, written by famous people on reading and writing subjects and run as paid space in youth-oriented publications. A pretest of the project proved that young people were very interested in this kind of self-help, including college students and recent graduates, and teachers. Surprisingly, the audience preferred articles written by qualified but less familiar people to those by famous people such as television and movie actors. Subsequent subjects covered in articles in this successful program included how to read classic literature, and will include poetry--in spite of a demand for more career oriented articles. (HTH)