For Salon Staff Writer, Life Is Bigger Than an L.A. Lifestyle

R.E.M.’s classic 1991 song “Losing My Religion” takes its title from an old Southern expression signifying an individual who has reached the end of their rope. In a recent Los Angeles magazine piece, pop culture writer Scott Timberg detailed how he gradually arrived at that tipping point on the West Coast and, now, here he is with his wife and son, newly relocated to the birthplace of Michael Stipe.