The marital partnership that showed its political side in the 2004 presidential election reveals its literary side here tomorrow.

Teresa Heinz Kerry, who leads Pittsburgh's Heinz Endowments, and her husband, U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., are co-authors of "This Moment in Earth: Today's New Environmentalists and Their Vision for the Future" (Public Affairs, $25).

They will be discussing and signing the book from 2-4 p.m. at Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Waterworks Mall.

In a conference call Thursday, the two said they found during the 2004 campaign that concerns and improvements for the environment were widespread regardless of political affiliations.

"What we found," said Kerry, "was that people were not thinking of themselves as 'environmentalists,' but as concerned citizens who saw their surroundings were threatened and were determined to change things."

Kerry said the book "makes it clear that the environmental movement has been enormously successful, but that there has been serious back-sliding under [President] Bush. If the movement is going to be judged as successful, it will depend on how much further it can take those improvements."

The book lauds Springdale native Rachel Carson for her role in effectively opposing chemical threats to the habitat, and Heinz praised her again.

"Rachel Carson opened the window for all us to participate in changing the world. She's still the backdrop for the kinds of work we can all do."

Kerry added that their book not only singles out individual and corporate efforts to fight environmental threats but offers a list of changes people can make on their own.

"There's no end to what we can all do to make things better," he said.