Fran Severn

Freelance writer, editor, fact-checker, and researcher with 30 years' experience. Member International Food, Wine, & Travel Writers Association. Specialties: Travel, Lifestyle, Business, translating Medicine and Science into layman's language. Horsewoman. Pilot.

Beyond the Coffee Mug

Business Start-ups: May 1999Al Urban loves mice. Well, mouse pads, anyway. He hands them out to everybody who visits Computer Masters, his retail computer store in Vermillion, Ohio. Urban credits the custom pads, imprinted with the store’s name and phone number, with generating 25% of the sales at his 2½ year old store. “I use…

Delta Sky: Sneeze Souffle

Just how allergic to cats was she really? Are you allergic to cats?  John Hopkins Asthma & Allergy Center is looking for people interested in participating in a study of new treatment for cat allergies.  Earn $425, if accepted. Not long after I’d spotted this ad in the morning newspaper, I was sitting in a…