[texhax] help! basic question for book formatting

[DW]

I'm a beginning user of LaTeX, and am considering using it to write a 
textbook.  I've looked around for style files, but most are in the 
format of a research-level book.  I'm looking more for the style of 
an undergraduate science text: a larger column for text, and a 
thinner column in different formatting (fonts etc) for figures, etc., 
where the figures can be anchored to particular text.

Can anyone advise whether this is possible/recommended to be done in 
LaTeX, as opposed to say something like Adobe InDesign?  If possible 
in LaTeX, are there style files that are available that could serve 
as templates?

Also, is there a more appropriate forum for this type of question?

Thank you all for your help,
David Wu