Mr. Lala was born in Tampa, Florida in 1951, and grew up in Austin, Texas. He has a B.A. in American History (1990) from the University of Texas at Austin, an M.A. in American History (1994) from Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas (then Southwest Texas State University), and did doctoral studies in American History at Texas A&M University, College Station (finishing a.b.D. in 2002). He now resides in Krosno, Poland.