Lelyveld writes City Beat stories for the Los Angeles Times about moments in the life of Los Angeles. She was born in New York and grew up around the world, but has now lived in Los Angeles longer than she’s lived anywhere else. Before joining The Times in 2001, she wrote for the Tuscaloosa News, the Associated Press and the Philadelphia Inquirer, which sent her to Los Angeles as a national writer in 1997. She went reluctantly, but fell for the place.