 He attended the University of Illinois as a Comparative Literature major and was a varsity epée fencer on two Big Ten championship teams, placing 4th in the Conference and 18th in the nation at the 1981 NCAA fencing finals.After college, Heald taught English at Florida A & M University, a historically African-American institution, and attended law school at the University of Chicago.He married Amasong Choir director Jill A. Crandall in 1984.