Norman Dash; Veteran Los Angeles Journalist and Author of Two Books

Norman Dash, veteran Los Angeles journalist who had worked since 1987 in The Times Travel section, has died. He was 63.

Dash died Thursday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center of respiratory failure after a six-month fight with liver cancer.

Educated at Los Angeles City College and Cal State Los Angeles, Dash served four years in the Air Force as a flight trainer.

He began his journalism career at The Times, working for its Westside suburban section from 1956 to 1962. He left to become a stockbroker, but soon returned to journalism at the now defunct Los Angeles Herald Examiner. There he worked on the paper’s Men’s World and Real Estate sections, and for several years was editor of the Sunday magazine called California Living.

Rehired by The Times in 1980, Dash served as a copy editor in the Business section and in recent years in the Travel section.

He also wrote a horse-race betting column for Sports and was the author of two books, “Yesterday’s Los Angeles” and “Great Betting Systems.”

Dash is survived by his wife, Lucille; his son, Jeffrey, and his daughter, Annette.

Services will be Sunday at 10 a.m. at Mt. Sinai Memorial Park in Burbank.

The family has asked that any memorial donations be made to the American Cancer Society.