The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund has announced that its board of directors has awarded the 2003 Defender of Liberty award to Mile High Comics owner Chuck Rozanski.  Rozanski has been a fund-raising powerhouse for the Fund this year, running auctions, making the high bid for the Jim Lee benefit signing, donating comics, and in general setting an example for retailers that support the Fund's activities. 

Rozanski explained his commitment to free speech issues in his newsletter.  'It has always been my thought that when the forces of repression attack any one of us, they are ultimately seeking to diminish the free speech rights of us all,' he said.  'As a leader in the comic retailing community, I refuse to sit by idly and allow that to happen.  Being proactive in the cause of freedom can be expensive in many ways, but I'll keep doing it, if for no other reason than I feel that I owe it to my own children to not leave them a world with fewer freedoms than the one I inherited from my own parents.'