Laird writes about science and medicine.

His work has appeared in magazines (TIME, Audubon, Discover, Men’s Fitness, Health) and newspapers (San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Detroit Free Press), and on Web sites (Salon, Reuters, MSNBC, CNN.com). He has produced video for Web sites including Smithsonianmag.com and audio for KQED and WUNC public media stations. His recent novel, Fallen Lake, tells the story of a powerful attraction between two couples and how it affected their children.

Laird has taught writing at San Francisco State University, UC Berkeley Extension and Mediabistro. He grew up in Berkeley, California, and studied creative writing and politics at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He lives in Oakland, California.