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John Robinson Block, Newsman

by Jeff Sewald

My twin brother, Allan Block, and I are the third generation in a family business that’s more than 100 years old. My grandfather, Paul Block, was an immigrant from East Prussia, and grew up, through his teens, in Elmira, New York. From age 10, he worked for a newspaper and learned how to sell advertising. …

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Ageless Wisdom: Betty Lane, 80

by John Beale
In part two of this video series, Betty Lane, age 80, shares her thoughts on life and work from her experiences with the Hill House and community. I am excited about being 80 years old. It allows me to do all the things that maybe I couldn’t do when I was younger. I can take …

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The Singing Barista

by Kate Benz, photography by John Altdorfer
No one complains when they come into Jitters Café in Shadyside for their frappuccinos and cappuccinos and caffeinated hot/iced whatevers and barista Liz starts singing. Deas Vail, Mew, Jon Bellion, Issues…artists with melodic vocals that she can harmonize with while she’s working behind the counter, pouring things like Lavender White Mochas and Gingerbread Chai Lattes …

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Montgomery, Macino, Vento, Capretto, Marcu, Widdoes, Luderowski

by PQ Staff
Ruth Mitchell Montgomery, 101: Five years after she and her husband moved to Pittsburgh for a job with the University of Pittsburgh in 1956, Montgomery started the effort to create the Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society (now Chamber Music Pittsburgh), attracting the philanthropic support to make the dream a reality. For many years she ran the …

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Ageless Wisdom: Jim Roddey, 85

by John Beale
In part one of this video series, Jim Roddey, age 85, discusses his contributions to Pittsburgh as a businessman and first Allegheny County Executive. My wife and I came to Pittsburgh to buy a company. We had promised to stay five years, but we’ve ended up being here almost 40. My advice to Pittsburghers is …

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Bob and Fritz Together

by Kate Benz, photography by John Altdorfer
Fritz is wearing a contraption. Two black, rubber wheels attached to a harness that allows him to bark and roll and bark and roll his way across the grass. He’s been wearing it for four years. Ever since he jumped and missed and fell off one of the concrete steps in the back yard. “Well,” …

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Rocky’s World Behind the Diner Counter

by Kate Benz, photography by John Altdorfer
Where’s Apollo Creed? Oh, hardy, har, har. Like he hasn’t heard that one like, ten thousand times before. “I also get a lot of ‘Yo, Adrian!’” Rocky says from behind the counter of his corner diner in Bloomfield. The counter is short. Really short. Not even waist-high short. “About four and a half feet tall,” …

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Donna’s Dream and a Life of Roller Skating

by Kate Benz, photography by John Altdorfer
Donna’s knee has been bothering her lately. Which is why she isn’t lacing up her white roller skates right now, the pair her late husband bought for her in 1963 for, geez, it must have been five hundred dollars. The same pair she was wearing 10 years ago when she was 71 and broke her …

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An Antique Point of View

by Kate Benz, photography by John Altdorfer
Someday, Jim Barricella will retire from antiquing. Well, maybe not retire literally, but definitely do something else with his life. Something other than the never-ending hours he spends at his antique shop, Off the Avenue. If someone bought the place, Jim would set up a booth and stick some antiques in there. No worry. None …

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Nate and His Bees

by Kate Benz, photography by John Altdorfer
The bees arrived yesterday, via Two Day Priority, from an apiary in Ohio. Three pounds of them. Five thousand bees and one queen buzzing around in a wooden crate made of scrap wood kinda stapled together. There are screens on either side so that you can actually see the bees. And hear them. All 5,001 …

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Davis, Klausing, Donatelli, Lynch, Heinz, Sachs, McEachran, Scully, Sammartino

by PQ Staff
Nathan Davis, 81: Davis was director of jazz studies at the University of Pittsburgh and a pioneer in bringing jazz education into the mainstream. A tenor and soprano saxophone player, his 44-year tenure at Pitt included creating the Pittsburgh Jazz Seminar, the Sonny Rollins International Jazz Archive, the International Academy of Jazz Hall of Fame …

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Albrecht, Kinne, Wildermuth, Behre, Suroviec, Sullivan, Chalikonda

by PQ Staff
Chuck Albrecht is the new executive director of the Persad Center, a licensed counseling center created to serve LGBT people. A native of Portsmouth, Ohio. Albrecht comes to Pittsburgh from Florida, where for the past 17 years he was chief operating officer at the Florida Gulf Coast Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. Previously, he was …

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Kelleman, Fech, Kaminski, Thors, Bhattacharya, Crawley, Miller

by PQ Staff
Katharine Eagan Kelleman is the CEO of the Port Authority of Allegheny County, succeeding Ellen McLean. Kelleman comes to Pittsburgh from Tampa, Fla., where she led the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority and won that region’s 2016 Businesswoman of the Year Award for economic development. She has previously worked in transit agencies in Baltimore, Dallas …

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Bognar, Franklin, Freeman, Ross, Goldstein, McElhattan, Malone

by PQ Staff
Nadine Bognar, 87: The co-owner of Bognar and Company, a supplier of coke and coal for the steel industry, she became chairman and CEO in 1992 after her husband’s death. While her business acumen contributed to the company’s continued success, it was her philanthropic efforts and support of a wide range of arts organizations that …

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The Gowns She’s Known

by Kate Benz, photography by John Altdorfer
There’s less than a month left to liquidate, oh geez, like, 1,000 gowns. Rows and rows of them. Satin and lace all hanging pretty in clear garment bags with a hand-written tag attached: 60% off! “You can get a twelve hundred dollar gown for five hundred dollars,” says Mary. “That’s a good deal.” One thousand …

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John Fetterman, Public Servant

by Jeff Sewald
I was born in Reading, Pa., on Aug. 15, 1969. My parents, Karl and Susan Fetterman, were both only 19 years old at the time, so I was an “unplanned event.” But my mom and dad did get married and, as I matured and came to understand the circumstances surrounding my birth, the knowledge helped …

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A Life Caring for Fallingwater

by Douglas Heuck
Lynda S. Waggoner is vice president of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and director of Fallingwater. On the occasion of her retirement, we asked her to look back on more than 50 years at Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece. Q. How did you get involved with Fallingwater? A. I was a senior in high school in 1965, …

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Trading Licks with Dave: The Wisdom from a Lifetime of Music

by Kate Benz, photography by John Altdorfer
“You want a speedball?” Dave asks. “No, not that,” he adds, laughing at the blank stares. “Not coke and Quaaludes like they used to offer us in L.A. Espresso and wine. One of my clients got me this espresso machine. Fun. Oh man, have you heard of this? Beaver Valley Blend. Amazing. Really, really smooth.” …

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Market Square Frankie Sings His Song of Life

by Kate Benz, photography by John Altdorfer
The stroller is one of those sporty, three-wheeled versions, the kind that athletic moms like to push around suburban neighborhoods while huffing out a cardio burn. This one is parked in a crosswalk, about two feet from the curb, right on the corner of Market and Fifth in the shadow of the Fairmont Hotel. In …

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Saying Goodbye

by John Beale
As a child, my mother often reminded me that we all enter and leave this world the same way. It’s what we do between those two events that will define our lives. It’s likely that my mother, Edith Beale, wasn’t much different than other mothers raising families in and around towns lining the valleys of …

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Helen Hanna Casey, Real Estate Maven

by Jeff Sewald
I grew up in Shadyside, the daughter of Howard W. Hanna Jr., and Anne Freyvogel Hanna, with an older brother and younger sister. Eventually, all three of us went to small Catholic colleges. My brother, Howard W. “Hoddy” Hanna III, to which he has added Howard W. Hanna IV and V, attended John Carroll in …

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Blankenship, Rossi, Rizzo, Peddada, Finkel, Davitt, Reis

by PQ Staff
Chip Blankenship is CEO of Arconic, the former Alcoa division that makes aluminum and titanium parts for the aerospace and automotive industries. A metallurgist by training, Blankenship began his career with General Electric in 1992 after earning a B.S. in materials engineering from Virginia Tech and a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from the …

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