Laura Stewart, editorial assistant and feature writer, joined the Daily Herald in 1999, in the paper’s Lake County bureau in Vernon Hills.

There, she worked as a community news coordinator and reporter, covering everything from village board meetings (for Third Lake) to Neighbor feature stories.

In January 2002, Stewart moved to the features department at the Daily Herald's office center in Arlington Heights. There, her main focus was working for the TimeOut! entertainment guide, putting together weekly entertainment pages and writing feature stories for both the TimeOut! and the Suburban Living sections.

She has interviewed many celebrities for feature stories, ranging from entertainers such as Jane Seymour, Bill Cosby and Martin Short to author and attorney Caroline Kennedy.

Many of Stewart's own favorite stories are on the somewhat quirkier side -- features on "Granddad," the oldest fish at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium and the racing pigs at the Lake County Fair (which was picked up by The Associated Press) were a couple of her favorites. Stewart also has written theater and movie reviews for the TimeOut! section.

She is currently working to getting a children's book published -- a lifelong dream.

Stewart graduated from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale with a major in journalism and a minor in English. There, she worked for the college's newspaper, the Daily Egyptian, for four years, and received the William Lyons Journalism Scholarship. Before joining the Daily Herald, Stewart wrote business policies and procedures for Culligan International Co., then located time in Northbrook.