Russ Leadabrand; Historian Wrote About the Old West

Russ Leadabrand, 74, writer and historian who chronicled California and the Old West. A native of Illinois, he grew up in Pasadena and Dinuba in the San Joaquin Valley. He attended Columbia University, the University of New Mexico and USC. Leadabrand began his career writing for Pasadena-area newspapers, becoming travel editor and a daily columnist for the Pasadena Star News, posts he held until his retirement in 1971. He also wrote features for men’s adventure magazines, Arizona Highways, Sunset and Desert magazines. Leadabrand, an expert on the desert and weekend getaway destinations, developed a long-running column for the automobile club magazine Westways called “Let’s Explore a Byway.” He also wrote guidebooks about the West and edited an annual book on deserts published by the Westerners, a group of writers and historians of which he was a member. On Monday in Cambria.