All Companions Sink

Growing up in Oakland, Laird graduated from Oakland Technical High School and attended what was then Oakland City College. He transferred to UC Santa Barbara, where he completed a BA in physical education (1962) and an MA in English (1965). He then taught English for three years at Long Beach City College before receiving a Fulbright Grant to teach American literature in Denmark. After a second year in Europe, he taught English and physical education for two years at Alhambra High School in Martinez, California. He then enrolled at Bjorn's Hairstyling Academy in Vallejo and subsequently worked as an apprentice hairdresser at Kenny's Workshop in Oakland and then as a hairdresser at The Raven in Berkeley.

In 1977, Laird went to work for the University of California, Berkeley, where he spent 22 years in admissions and outreach, serving as director of undergraduate admission from 1993 until his retirement in 1999.  Following his retirement from Berkeley, Laird worked for ten years as an independent consultant on higher education admissions policy and wrote extensively on admissions and equity issues, including The Case for Affirmative Action in University Admissions, published in 2005 by Bay Tree Publishing.  

He lives in Berkeley with his spouse Karen Rice. They have two sons, Sam, 28, a journalist for Mashable.com, and Casey, 24, currently traveling in Turkey.