Stuart Leavenworth

About

I'm an experienced reporter and editor, having spent four decades in newspapers, including some of the nation's best. I recently returned to the Los Angeles Times, where I oversee general assignment reporters covering California in all its breadth and complexity. I previously worked at the Washington Post, where I supervised reporters covering climate and environmental policy and breaking news worldwide as part of The Post's expanded climate team. I took a lead role in editing our coverage of the Maui wildfires, the toxic train derailment in Ohio and other disasters, and helped elevate the work of younger journalists and interns across the newsroom. Prior to that, I edited breaking news, enterprise and award-winning projects at the LA Times. These included investigations of the U.S. nuclear legacy in the Marshall Islands, abandoned oil wells in California, the die-off of gray whales and the lethal toll of heat waves in California. Most of my career was spent with McClatchy, as a Sacramento Bee reporter and editor, Beijing bureau chief and national correspondent in Washington. I'm native of Fresno, Calif. and a product of California's public schools and universities. Throughout my career, I've covered hurricanes, wildfires and other natural disasters, including the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Following Katrina, my wife Mickie and I volunteered to help Habitat for Humanity with relief work on the Gulf Coast, living in a tent camp for two weeks. I've also volunteered with several other non-profits, including DC Central Kitchen and a community farm-garden at the Franciscan Monastery in northeast DC. One thing you may not know about me: In 2009, I took a five-month leave from The Sacramento Bee to intern as a prep chef at a high-end Italian restaurant in the Bay Area. My apprenticeship ended when The Bee hired me to serve as editorial page editor.