I was born in a small house in Evanston, Illinois. I met my wife, Mary Ryan, in a painting class while I attended architectural engineering school at the University of Illinois in Chicago. After working in Chicago for ten years, we decided to pick up and head for a less congested part of the country with better weather, and ended up in beautiful Springfield, Missouri, where we hike and enjoy the Ozark region as often as we possibly can. My spare time is divided between my wife, my two daughters, Natalie and Elizabeth, my three dogs, three cats and two fat bunnies...Wild Bill and Chuck. If you'd like to learn more about me or the books I've written, you can read excerpts at my website at: reidlaurence.piczo.com