California Health Care Worker Claims Pseudonym 'Ellie Light'

A California man is claiming to be "Ellie Light," the mysterious fan of President Obama whose letters to editorial pages have been published in newspapers around the country, raising questions about the writer's true identity.

Winston Steward, 51, a health care worker in Frazier Park, Calif., reportedly has the same e-mail address as the one"Light" used to send letters to The Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Steward also called into the Michael Smercomish radio show in Philadelphia on Tuesday but didn't reveal himself as anyone other than the elusive Light.

The newspaper reported late Tuesday that Steward called in to reporters there and then sent an e-mail, saying, "I am Winston Steward and have been sending the letters from Ellie Light. ... I hope this ends any confusion and sets the record straight."

The prolific writer's letter has appeared in more than 70 newspapers in the last three weeks. Light has claimed to live in dozens of different cities, ranging from Long Beach, Calif., to Huntsville, Ala. -- depending on which newspaper he (or she) has written to -- fueling speculation that the letter was an inside job from the Democratic Party or Obama administration officials.

The Plain Dealer raised concerns about Light's identity after refusing to publish a letter it received on Jan. 16 that contained no hometown.

The Web site Patterico's Pontifications, which has compiled a comprehensive list of Ellie Light appearances, found Light letters had shown up in 68 newspapers across 31 states and the District of Columbia. Three national publications -- Politico, The Washington Times and USA Today -- also ran the letter, as did two foreign publications.

The Green Bay Press-Gazette, which ran the submission Jan. 13, issued an apology on Monday for the "bogus letter," acknowledging that it had been duped by someone.

"The editors of the (Gannett Wisconsin Media) papers exercised due diligence to one degree or another, in most cases calling the phone number provided by the writer to confirm she was the author. However, she responded with false information and a series of different hometowns," the newspaper explained. "We still believe in the inherent honesty of many letter writers, but this case will find us reviewing the incident to determine whether additional safeguards are necessary. We apologize that this letter appeared on our Web site."

The newspaper said the letter ran in three GWM newspapers, and it also appeared on its Web site.

The Plain Dealer had reported that a traveling nurse named Barbara Brooks owned up to the letters. Brooks told the newspaper that Steward is her husband, and that while he denied they're still married, she reportedly said he is "making up all kinds of garbage" for fear of being targeted by "right-wing crazies."

In the original letter to the editor, "Ellie" defended Obama's record in office and wrote that the president was the victim of inflated expectations.

"A year ago, if we had read in the paper that employers were hiring again, that health care legislation was proceeding without a bump and that Afghanistan suddenly became a nice place to take your kids, we would've known we were being lied to. Back then, we recognized that the problems President Obama inherited wouldn't go away overnight," the Ellie Jeanne Light of Long Beach, Calif., wrote in the Jan. 22 edition of USA Today.

"But today, the president is being attacked as if he were a salesman who promised us that our problems would wash off in the morning. He never made such a promise. It's time for Americans to realize that governing is hard work, and that a president can't just wave a magic wand and fix everything."

The rapid-fire spread of that letter in papers across the country created a major buzz on blogs and other popular Web sites, with a "Who is Ellie Light?" page created on Facebook.

Steward denied being part of the "astroturf" of artificially generated grassroots, saying he wanted to defend Obama both from the right and the "ultra-left" that demands ideological loyalty rather results, the paper reported.

But revealing his identity could land Steward in hot water. In California, where Steward lives, and elsewhere it is a misdemeanor to write a letter to a newspaper and sign someone else's name.

Click here to read the Cleveland Plain Dealer's story on Steward.