Leona G. Barad

Leona G. Barad grew up watching soaps at her mother’s knee in the 1970s. By the time she graduated with a B.A. in Communications, Leona was a soap opera historian and dedicated collector. Leona’s first foray into the soap opera industry was as an intern at General Hospital. Soon after, she became the Historian/Researcher for CBS TV’s 50 Years of Soaps: An All-Star Celebration, which aired in 1994. Leona also began writing freelance articles for Soap Opera Magazine and SoapCity.com and she contributed to a book of humorous soap opera lines called Soap Dish. Leona spent over a decade working in research and production for numerous television specials about the history of the medium, including Inside TV Land, Behind The Laughs, TV’s Greatest Performances, TV Laughs at Life, and Before They Were Stars. She also spent a few years working as a researcher for the Daytime Emmys and Soap Opera Awards. Later, Leona worked in the research department of Entertainment Tonight and The Insider. She now joins Soap Hub as a Contributing Writer, specializing in the history of soaps.