Russell Shaw, former CL music writer, dies

For anyone who was involved in the Atlanta music scene in the late 70s and early 80s, Russell Shaw was the most influential writer in the city.

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He wrote CL's popular "Music Menu" feature from 1978 until 1984 and was a fixture at local clubs. He championed bands he liked and wasn't afraid to write witheringly about the ones he didn't.

After he left Atlanta, Shaw lived in Portland and was the author of seven books. He was a blogger for the Huffington Post and for zdnet.com.

Shaw, 60, died March 14 in a hotel room in San Jose, where he was going to cover a Emerging Technologies Conference for zdnet.com. He complained to a co-worker that he caught a bug on the plane taking him there, and died later that evening. The cause of death has yet to be determined.

A funeral service is scheduled for March 23 in Florida, but no details are yet available.