Below is a letter from Susie Hardeman, author of Stock Market Knowledge for All Ages. Susie’s book has found favor with many home schoolers looking to teach their children about finances; I know many of you picked up copies at the last home school convention.

Stock Market Knowledge for All Ages is now available for purchase online; below are some of Susie’s own words on the book and the experiences that led her to write it.

MY NAME IS SUSIE HARDEMAN, AUTHOR OF STOCK MARKET KNOWLEDGE FOR ALL AGES; THIS BOOK HAS BEEN DEDICATED TO A YOUNG AFRO-AMERICAN, JOSHUA MATHEWS, WHOM I MET THE AFTERNOON I BURIED MY HUSBAND. WE HAD MOVED TO LR FROM CALIFORNIA AS MY HUSBAND HAD ONLY A FEW WEEKS TO LIVE AND HE WANTED TO RETURN HOME. I HAD A FIVE WEEK OLD BROKEN HIP AND WAS ON A WALKER PLUS WE HAD TWO LARGE BLACK POODLES. WE FLEW HOME, MOVED IN TO AN ACCESIBLE APARTMENT AND HE DIED THREE WEEKS LATER. WHEN I RETURNED HOME FROM THE MEMORIAL SERVICE, THERE WAS A KNOCK AT MY DOOR AND THERE WAS THIRTEEN YEAR OLD JOSHUA, SELLING XMAS ITEMS TO RAISE MONEY FOR HIS MIDDLE SCHOOL BAND. WHEN HE SAW MY DOGS, HE ASKED IF HE COULD WALK THEM; THAT WAS THE BEGINNING OF A WONDERFUL FOUR MONTH FRIENDSHIP. JOSHUA REFUSED TO ACCEPT ANY MONEY; HE NEVER FAILED TO CALL IF HE HAD TO STUDY FOR A TEST AND WAS NEVER LATE. ONE AFTERNOON I ASKED HIM WHAT HE WAS GOING TO DO WITH HIS FIRST PAYCHECK WHEN HE AQUIRED A JOB AND HE ANNOUNCED HE WAS GOING TO BUY COCA-COLA STOCK.

WHEN XMAS CAME, I TOLD HIS MOTHER I WANTED TO OPEN A 529 COLLEGE FUND AND PURCHASE SOME COCA COLA STOCK AS A FAVOR FOR JOSHUA DOING SO MUCH FOR ME. SHE WAS THRILLED! I CALLED THE BROKER, MADE THE APPOINTMENT, AND OUT WE WENT. I ASKED WHAT HE HAD TO GIVE JOSHUA AND HE SAID NOTHING BECAUSE THERE WAS NOTHING OUT THERE. HE THEN TOOK A POINTER AND WENT TO A CHART ON THE WALL AND BEGAN TO BORE US TO DEATH. IT WAS AT THIS POINT THAT I DECIDED TO WRITE A BOOK EXPLAINING AS MUCH OF THIS GIBBER JABBER JARGON AS SIMPLY AS POSSIBLE.

I HAD PASSED MY BROKER’S LISCENCE EXAM IN 1958 IN NEW YORK AND THE TERMINOLOGY WAS STILL THE SAME. THE NEXT MORNING JOSHUA BROUGHT ME A XMAS PRESENT; IT WAS A 3 X 4 PICTURE FRAME WITH HIS PICTURE. I LOOKED AT THE FRAME AND TOLD HIM THE FRAME WAS GOING TO BE THE COVER OF MY BOOK, WHICH IT IS. TO DATE 26,000 COPIES HAVE BEEN SOLD AND EVERY PENNY FROM EACH SALE GOES IN HIS 529 COLLEGE FUND. HE IS NOW A JUNIOR AT MOREHOUSE COLLEGE IN ATLANTA AND WILL HEAD TO GRADUATE SCHOOL AFTER GRADUATION.

HAVING INTERVIEWED HUNDREDS OF MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS FROM CALIFORNIA TO ARKANSAS, I DISCOVERED THAT THEY, OVERALL, HAD VERY LITTLE KNOWLEDGE OF THE STOCK MARKET AND WHAT THE VARIOUS TERMS MEANT. I HAVE ANSWERED MANY OF THEIR QUESTIONS IN TWO SENTENCES OR MORE IN AN EASY AND COLORFUL BOOK ARRANGED IN A QUESTION AND ANSWER FORM. I CONTACTED LIBRARIANS IN THE PUBLIC, PRIVATE AND PAROCHIAL MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL LIBRARIANS AND RECEIVED THE SAME ANSWER WHEN I ASKED IF THEY HAD ANY BOOK PERTAINING TO THE STOCK MARKET, AND WAS TOLD, TO MY SURPRISE, THEY NEVER HAD.

MR. WARREN STEPHENS HAD 5000 COPIES OF MY BOOK PRINTED IN HONG KONG. THEY ARRIVED IN LITTLE ROCK OCT. 15TH, AND TWO MONTHS LATER TO THE DAY A GENTLEMAN FROM BERKERLEY, CA. CALLED AND ASKED IF I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE A NATIONAL PUBLISHER. HIS NAME WAS PHIL WOODS AND HE OWNED TEN SPEED PRESS. MRS. LAURA BUSH RECEIVED A COPY OF MY BOOK AND INFORMED THE SECRETARY OF EDUCATION, ROD PAIGE; SHE WANTED THE BOOK USED THROUGH THE US DEPUTY TREASURY SECRETARY FOR FINANCHIAL EDUATION.

ON JUNE 1ST, RANDOM HOUSE PUBLISHERS BOUGHT TEN SPEED PRESS AND THEY ARE NOW DISTRIBUTING MY BOOK, WHICH SELLS FOR $9.95, AND AGAIN, ALL THE PROCEEDS GO NOT TO ME, BUT STRAIT TO JOSHUA MATHEWS’ 529 FUND, JUST ONE OF THE BRIGHT YOUNG PEOPLE WHO’S EDUCATION IS NECESSARY FOR SOCIETY AS WE KNOW IT TO CONTINUE TO THRIVE AND FLOURISH LIKE NEVER BEFORE! PLEASE VISIT http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9781580086271 TO ORDER A COPY OF THIS VALUABLE RESOURCE.

SINCERELY,

SUSIE HARDEMAN

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *