Charles Ornstein started his career as a reporter at the Dallas Morning News before moving on to the Los Angeles Times. “My wife, who wasn’t my wife at the time, her first time being in L.A. was when our plane touched down,” Ornstein recalled. They stayed for years, and Ornstein went on to be lead reporter on a Pulitzer-Prize-winning series of articles on King/Drew hospital. Today, he’s a senior reporter at ProPublica. Read more about him below.

Q. What music have you listened to today?

A. I haven’t really listened to music today because I was in a hotel doing work and haven’t spent much time in the car.

Q. When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A. A lawyer.

Q. What is your favorite cocktail?

A. I like Bailey’s on the rocks, but that’s not really a cocktail.

Q. If you could take only one more journey, where would you go?

A. Australia.

Q. What is your favorite thing about Los Angeles?

A. There’s so much to love about Los Angeles. I love the topography. I love the newspaper. I love the people. I love the weather. I do not love the traffic. Of all the cities I’ve lived in, it’s the best blend of everything.

Q. What is your fondest childhood memory?

A. Playing with my grandfather who died when I was five. He would come over every day and take me on walks. He taught me how to tell time and to do simple addition.

Q. What is your most prized material possession?

A. A necklace my grandparents brought me from Israel when I was a kid.

Q. What promise do you make to yourself that you break the most often?

A. That I’ll stop biting my nails.

Q. What should you throw away but haven’t been able to part with?

A. My college textbooks.

Q. Who is the one person living or dead you would most like to meet for dinner?

A. My grandfather who I’m named after, who died before I was born.

To read about Ornstein’s panel, click here.

*Photo by Aaron Salcido.