Location
Champaign, IL

Bio
Stuart Laird is a progressive writer, former educator (that's "teacher" plus "gravitas"), and civil liberties activist.

Raised in Springfield, IL (a great place if you're a white, male, heterosexual, conservative Republican, christian fundamentalist [2/5 is NOT good]), Stuart escaped to the east coast after university, where he had every intention of staying forever until his father died and he had to return to Illinois to take care of the family business interests.

Stuart left the U.S. for Spain, claiming he needed the distance to maintain his sanity after Bush's unprovoked invasion of Iraq. He returned to Champaign, IL, in the spring of 2008 to get back into his own culture and work for Democratic candidates in the 2008 election.

Stuart blogs intermittently under the name "Grumblebear" at http://expatbear.blogspot.com.