Laura Weisskopf Bleill. Credit: Shannon Anderson
Laura Weisskopf Bleill’s first encounter with Champaign-Urbana: changing into fancy interview clothes at the Amoco gas station (now Circle K) at the corner of Neil and Columbia in preparation to meet with editors and staff at the News-Gazette. A graduate of Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism and native of the Chicago suburbs, Bleill got the job and started her career as a sportswriter.
With the exception of a two-year detour to Texas, Bleill has lived her entire adult life in Champaign (but had an apartment for 10 months in Urbana). Her work has been commissioned by the Associated Press; the Fort Worth Star-Telegram; the St. Louis Post-Dispatch; the Daily Herald; Illinois Alumni magazine; the Times of Northwest Indiana; and various publications at the University of Illinois.
Currently, Bleill is a communications consultant and event planner specializing in higher education. She is also an active volunteer with the Champaign County YMCA and Larkin’s Place at the Y and Sinai Temple.
Bleill is married to Tony, a News-Gazette sportswriter. They live in Champaign with their two beautiful daughters, Nessa and Sarah, and Maddie the killer cockapoo.
