Duke Helfand has worked as a reporter and editor at the Los Angeles Times for 17 years. He currently covers the financial side of health care, including the effect of the nation’s new health care law on insurers, hospitals, doctors and consumers. Before moderating a panel on health reform’s implications for California, he took our Green Room Q&A.

Q. Where would we find you at 10 a.m. on a typical Saturday?

A. With my kids at home, every Saturday, without a doubt.

Q. What do you wish you had the nerve to do?

A. Speak my mind at any moment and not hold back.

Q. What music have you listened to today?

A. Just the radio on the way over here.

Q. When do you feel most creative?

A. After I’ve done some good reporting and I’m free to write and I can feel it coming out of my fingertips.

Q. What is your favorite word?

A. Verb.

Q. Who is your favorite fictional character?

A. George Jetson.

Q. What is your favorite thing about Los Angeles?

A. The ocean breeze.

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

A. A baseball player.

Q. What is your greatest extravagance?

A. Reporters don’t have extravagances. We can’t afford them.

Q. What profession would you like to practice in your next life?

A. History professor.

Q. Whose talent would you like to have?

A. Bruce Springsteen’s.

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

A. Moshe Dayan, a general from the Six Day War.

To read more about Helfand’s panel, click here.

*Photo by Aaron Salcido.