Editing
Over the course of her career—from the LA Weekly to the Los Angeles Times to Los Angeles magazine (where she was editor-in-chief)—Melton has worked with many outstanding narrative writers to shepherd stories from initial pitch to publication.
She continues to collaborate closely with writers of short-and long-form journalism, most often for Alta Journal, and always looks for opportunities to promote and support the hard work of authors.
FEATURED STORY: "P-22's Life in L.A."
Hazards stalked him every day. But somehow, Griffith Park’s big puma survived in the wild for more than a decade. His death devastated the city he called home. Few animals have ever captured the imagination—and heart—of a place like P-22 did in Los Angeles. In this piece Melton edited for Alta Journal, writer Denise Hamilton makes a “bold and creative narrative choice that pays off with powerful storytelling," according to the Los Angeles Press Club, which awarded the work top honors for Science Reporting at the 2024 Southern California Journalism Awards.
A sampling of other wide-ranging stories Melton has commissioned and edited:
"The Ways of Fiction are Devious Indeed" by Sands Hall: Did Wallace Stegner steal "Angle of Repose" from a woman?
"The Tree Where Los Angeles Began" by D. J. Waldie: Retracing the history of the sacred sycamore "El Aliso"
"From Rigs to Reefs" by Katharine Gammon: Aging oil platforms are home to millions of sea creatures
"Goodwill Hunting" by Edward Humes: A next-gen version of an old-school charity tackles waste that's killing us
"Basement Buddies" by Victoria Patterson: A writer's unlikely friendship in the bowels of the Huntington Library
"Reconsidering the Rattlesnake" by Robert Ito: How scientist are pushing back on longheld misconceptions
"Unchartered Terroir" by Sydney Love: The L.A. women behind the West Coast rise of natural wine
“Sir Francis Drake's Date with Destiny" by Peter C. Mancall: Time may be up for the British explorer
“A Zanjero's Life” by Marcella Davison Aviles: Controlling the waters of California, one irrigation gate at a time
“The Forgotten Babies” by Melissa Chadburn: Why society fails its most vulnerable. A notable mention in Best American Essays 2021
“Tragedy on the Pacific Crest Trail” by Louise Farr: A young man’s death on the iconic hiking path. Winner of a Lowell Thomas Award for Adventure Travel
“Soaked Through” by Denise Hamilton: Creek freaks find L.A.’s city’s secret waterways and attempt to set them free
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“Fashion Gone Streamable” by Monica Corcoran Harel: Will film ever make us play dress up again?
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“Hard-Learned Lessons of History” by Robert Ito: California’s last school for Indigenous children rewrites its charter
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“California’s White Wine Problem” by Sydney Love: Two women lead the charge to diversify the state’s wine industry
“The Hollywood Exec and the Hand Transplant That Changed His Life” by Amy Wallace: A reality TV show pioneer makes medical history
“The Man That Got Away” by Sam Wasson: Jim Bailey spent his life impersonating Judy Garland. Where did that leave him?
"She Has a Name" by Louise Farr: A Jane Doe murder reveals a larger problem: Why are missing women of color so often overlooked?
"The Confounding Case of Sir St. George Gore” by Martin J. Smith: Reclaiming a Colorado mountain range named for a scoundrel
“Embarrassment of Riches” by Robert Ito: L.A. lands three prominent archives about the history of Black film
“Defending the Lifeblood of Napa” by Heather John Fogarty: Fires are changing the way vintners think about farming in wine country
And more recent stories by some terrific writers...
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“Manson, Inc.” by Denise Hamilton: The bizarre pop-culture industry that has arisen around a mass murderer. Winner of the 2020 Los Angeles Press Club Award for Commentary
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“A Literary Odd Couple” by Jesse Katz: Writer Victor Villaseñor and editor Marc Jaffe’s working partnership spans 50 years—and 3,000 miles
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“The Best Bad Things” by Terry McDonnell: Reckoning with a state’s hellacious history
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“The Billion-Dollar Composer” by Tim Grieving: For blockbuster films and video games, Pinar Toprak stirs emotions. Winner of a 2021 Los Angeles Press Club Award for Personality Profile
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“The Bells Toll. But for Whom?” by Marcela Davison Aviles: El Camino Real’s iconic bells are a symbol of missionary oppression. Winner of a 2021 Los Angeles Press Club Award for Race and Society
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“Islands in the Land” by Will Self: How Britain is to Europe what California is to the U.S.A.
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“A Giant Question” by Matt Jaffe: Why did one of the world’s largest trees—the Boole sequoia—survive while its neighbors were felled?
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“Who Killed Bugsy Siegel?” by Amy Wallace: A family claims to know who murdered the famed gangster
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“Oh My God! That’s Him! That’s Really Him!” by Chris Duffy: The people behind the memes they can’t escape
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“Death Becomes Them” by Denise Hamilton: The (female-led) explosion of the true-crime podcast
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“How Did the Mountain Lion Cross the Road?” by Katharine Gammon: L.A. breaks ground on the world’s largest wild-animal crossing
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“The Man Who Saw the 'There' There” by DJ Waldie: Remembering architectural historian Robert Winter
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“A Film Critic Takes Direction” by Peter Rainer: Connecting with an idol summons the early ecstasy of falling in love with movies