Opening books on Kennedy, Kerry

WASHINGTON -- Senator Edward M. Kennedy's new books have netted him $230,000 in advances, money he has pledged to charities after reimbursing himself for expenses incurred in promoting them, according to annual financial disclosure documents filed with the Senate this week.

''America Back on Track," Kennedy's first policy book since 1982, is getting him $180,000 under an agreement with Viking Penguin Group Inc., according to the disclosure forms. ''My Senator and Me," a children's book written from the perspective of Kennedy's Portuguese water dog, Splash, has drawn Kennedy a $50,000 advance from Scholastic Inc.

A spokeswoman said the Massachusetts Democrat plans to spread the proceeds among several organizations, including Read Boston, the Portuguese Water Dog Foundation, the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and Blue Ridge Assistance Dogs, a Virginia organization that trains service dogs.

Senator John F. Kerry's disclosure forms mention a book on the environment he is scheduled to write with his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, for Public Affairs. The financial arrangements are incomplete. Kerry reported receiving $5,175 last year for a reprinting of his 2003 book, ''A Call to Service."

By contrast, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, a New York Democrat, has taken in an estimated $8 million for her 2000 book, ''Living History," and Senator Barack Obama, Democrat of Illinois, has a three-book $1.9 million contract.

But Kennedy's proceeds dwarf those of many other senators who have recently published books. Among Republicans, Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania received an advance of just $10,000 for his book released last year, and Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi reported receiving $53,000 for his memoir.

The forms filed Monday also show the vast holdings of the Massachusetts senators, both of whom are millionaires many times over. Kerry's four personal trust funds have assets of between $575,000 and $2.3 million, with the money spread through a variety of stocks and mutual funds, the documents show. (Senators' assets and income are reported in broad categories under Senate rules governing financial disclosures.)

But the bulk of Kerry's 78-page financial report details the extensive portfolio of Heinz Kerry, the primary heir to the Heinz family fortune. Her net worth has been estimated at more than $500 million, making Kerry the wealthiest member of the Senate when spouses' wealth is included.

Heinz Kerry has multimillion-dollar stakes in companies, including Anheuser Busch, Automatic Data Processing Inc., Coca-Cola Co., Gannett Inc., General Electric Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., H.J. Heinz Co., Hewlett Packard Co., IBM Corp., Intel Corp., Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft Corp., PepsiCo Inc., Raytheon Co., Texas Instruments Inc., Time Warner Inc., and Viacom Inc. She has smaller holdings in dozens of other stocks and mutual funds and in a wide swath of municipal bonds.

Kennedy supplemented his $162,100 salary with $1.3 million to $6.7 million in income from various family trusts, the specific holdings of which were not listed in the report.

The senator reported that three of his trust funds have assets worth between $5 million and $25 million, and three others are worth between $1 million and $5 million. He also has smaller holdings in Vanguard Group and Fidelity Investments mutual funds.

For the second straight year, Kennedy shows that he received rental income of between $50,000 and $100,000 for the Hyannis Port home once owned by his brother John F. Kennedy.

The home, part of the Kennedy compound, has been rented out exclusively to Kennedy family members.