 Edgar and his wife, Brenda, moved back to Illinois' capital
city last week after almost 13 years of living in Champaign County
in what he described as a "self-imposed exile" after he left office.
Edgar, 65, who moved away from the state capital after leaving
office in 1999, explained in an interview with The (Champaign)
News-Gazette (http://bit.ly/HJEftm) that he enjoyed the time he
spent living in rural Seymour on an 8-acre slice of property along
the Sangamon River. But he said that because he lived in Springfield
after college and raised his family there, he always expected to
return.
His time away from Springfield was also intended to give his
successor, George Ryan, some breathing room, he said.
"After I left the governorship, I knew I had to get out of town,"
Edgar said. "The last thing the new governor needed was the old
governor sitting in town. So it's been a 12- or 13-year self-imposed
exile, and I figured that was long enough. Plus, we weren't sure
that we'd sell our house and we did."
The former governor and his wife moved on Thursday to their new
home on Springfield's west side, which Edgar said will also allow
him to be closer to a farm and some horses he has to the west of the
city.
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Despite the move back, Edgar plans to remain an instructor at the
University of Illinois and a member of the university's Institute of
Government and Public Affairs.
But he's ruling out any plans to return to political life.
"No, no, no," he said of that prospect.
[Associated
Press]
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