Leland Fetzer was born in Salt Lake City, the son of a part-time mine owner, which led to an early interest and involvement in mines and mining. He graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in History, but while serving in the Air Force he became a specialist in Russian. He went on to graduate school in that field, earning a Ph.D. in Russian at the University of California at Berkeley. The author of a number of scholarly articles on Russian literature, Dr. Fetzer has also translated three volumes from Russian into English. He taught Russian at San Diego State University for twenty-five years, retiring in 1992.

  Since then, his chief interest has been the history and natural history of the Julian, Banner, and Cuyamaca mountain area. After buying property in San Diego's backcountry near Julian, he spent a year building a cabin there; a book of his essays, A Year in the Cuyamacas, was the result. His extensive field and archival research into early San Diego history became the basis for A Good Camp, as well as a general history of the Cuyamacas which is nearly complete. An illustrated history of San Diego's plein air painters is already in progress. 
  Dr. Fetzer also lectures and writes about the history of the Cuyamacas and their mines for various historical societies and publications.  When they are not traveling, Dr. Fetzer and his wife, Lois, divide their time between homes in San Diego and Julian's North Peak.