Articles Archive - Pittsburgh Quarterly

Modern adaptations of classic plays often look like someone wearing borrowed clothes: they don’t fit quite right, and it’s obvious that the person wearing them had to struggle to put them on. But when an adaptation of a play like August Strindberg’s “Miss Julie” (1888) really does justice to its antecedent and fits the subject …

PICT’s “Miss Julie:” A Triangle with Four Sides Read More »

History

Pittsburgh’s Contributions to the World, Pt. III

by PQ Staff

To celebrate the beginning of our 20th year, we’ve set out to catalogue the contributions that Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania have made to the world. The list has grown and grown, and despite our best efforts, we know we’ll leave out key contributors. I think you’ll find that this small city at the confluence of …

Pittsburgh’s Contributions to the World, Pt. III Read More »

Books

Welcome to Wildcat

by Fred Shaw

When asked in an interview with writer Deborah Kalb about the significance of the title to his recent novel, Wildcat: An Appalachian Romance, Jeffrey Dunn points to the village of Braeburn, Pennsylvania, where “there is a road called ‘Wildcat Hollow Road.’ It’s a good Appalachian name: free but threatened, just like the wildcats whose coughs, …

Welcome to Wildcat Read More »

Nature

Wild Apples

by Daryln Brewer Hoffstot

A summer apple tree in the front yard is a wondrous thing. I can sit on the front porch and watch apples fall to the ground, listen to the “plunk” as they hit the grass, and wildlife come right to me. A squirrel climbs the tree, plucks an apple from a branch and runs away …

Wild Apples Read More »

Books Sports

Myron Cope: The Man Behind the Terrible Towel

by Fred Shaw

For a Steelers fan, watching 60 minutes of football at Acrisure Stadium without a sea of Terrible Towels is hard to imagine. In the mythology surrounding Pittsburgh’s most popular sports franchise, a playoff game against the Baltimore Colts at Three Rivers Stadium on December 27, 1975, marked the first appearance of the “gimmick” that would …

Myron Cope: The Man Behind the Terrible Towel Read More »

History

Then designer Betsy Deiseroth walked into her Fox Chapel home 24 years ago, she faced a daunting challenge. Though situated on a quiet road surrounded by a leafy lot, the house itself cried out for renovation. An 1870s cottage married to a 1950s ranch, it was charmless at best. “I walked in, saw the living room …

Calm and Collected Read More »

Opinion

Seeking a Safe, Welcoming and Thriving Region

by Paul O'Neill Jr. & Geoff Webster

It was a snowy day in Pittsburgh in 2024 when a City truck slid into a guardrail. No one was hurt, but it caused risk and damaged the vehicle. Asking “why” yielded a typical answer, “duh, it was icy.” But Mayor Ed Gainey had promised to be serious about a safe, welcoming and thriving city. Part of …

Seeking a Safe, Welcoming and Thriving Region Read More »

Arts

Total War Over Cocktails

by Stuart Sheppard

If there’s a miracle in Pittsburgh Public Theater’s current performance of the 1962 Edward Albee play “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” — it’s that two well-educated couples can argue drunkenly for over three hours and never once broach the subject of politics. (And these couples are of different generations, no less). Of course, this would …

Total War Over Cocktails Read More »

Nature

Magnificence Along the Clarion

by Thomas Saunders

A beautiful place to hike and explore in northwest Pennsylvania is Dutch Hill Forest, along the Clarion River in Heath Township, Jefferson County. The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy has protected more than 32,000 acres along the Clarion River, which was highly polluted decades ago but is now largely restored and a federally designated Wild and Scenic …

Magnificence Along the Clarion Read More »

Profiles

What Do I Know? Dr. José-Alain Sahel

by Jeff Sewald

I was born in Tlemcen, Algeria, a small city on the border with Morocco. My family is Jewish, of Spanish ancestry, and had been in Algeria for centuries. Both sides of my family were poor and struggled often just to eat. My grandfather on my father’s side was severely injured during World War II and …

What Do I Know? Dr. José-Alain Sahel Read More »

Opinion

Blocking Pittsburgh Growth: A Tyranny of the Minority

by Douglas Heuck

I didn’t grow up in a union household, but I’m steeped in union lore and stories. They’re part of America’s fabric and spirit. In the movies, there’s Norma Rae where Sally Field plays a courageous union textile worker. Matewan portrays the dramatic 1920 coal miners’ battle in West Virginia. And one of the best movies …

Blocking Pittsburgh Growth: A Tyranny of the Minority Read More »

Arts

The Bitch of Being a Witch

by Stuart Sheppard

Sometime around the turn of the millennium – resulting from what I would ascribe to the rise of social media and cable broadcasting — the term “trope” began to lose its classic and pregnant meaning of “figure of speech,” (i.e. an expression used in a nonliteral sense). It has devolved so that it now indicates …

The Bitch of Being a Witch Read More »

Books

‘Slime Line’ Hooks the Alaska Salmon Industry

by Fred Shaw

Revealing might be the best way to describe Jake Maynard’s debut novel, Slime Line, as the Mt. Jewett native leans on the highs and lows of his big-hearted narrator, Garrett “Beaver” Deaver, to provide inside dope on what it takes to bring a harvest of salmon from sea to table. Maynard doesn’t paint a pretty …

‘Slime Line’ Hooks the Alaska Salmon Industry Read More »

Sports & Outdoors

A Skiing Reverie

by Susan Fleming Morgans

When life events overwhelm me — family health issues, major expenses, needless arguments — I dream about skiing. For me, there is no better escape than soaring down a slope with nothing on my mind other than my next rhythmic turn. Skiing is great therapy, even in a dream. But I’ll probably never ski again. …

A Skiing Reverie Read More »

Books

Drue Heinz Winner Explores the Difficulties of Family

by Fred Shaw

Maya Angelou once wrote, “To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power. Or the climbing, falling colors of a rainbow.” Indeed, the relationships between mother and daughter found in literature make for a complicated spectrum, sometimes veering toward melodrama or bursting with profound insight — Amy Tan’s brilliant …

Drue Heinz Winner Explores the Difficulties of Family Read More »

Regional News Travel

New Airport Accentuates Pittsburgh’s Key Attributes

by Evan Pattak

If you’re an old-time Pittsburgher who’s resistant to change, you fondly recall Forbes Field, even with its tiny seats and occluded views of the field. You long to shop in Jenkins Arcade one more time. You cherish the memories of your trips to Greater Pittsburgh International Airport, with its inviting observation decks and concession stands …

New Airport Accentuates Pittsburgh’s Key Attributes Read More »

Books Business

Changing the American Dream

by Chris Allison

Francis Ford Coppola’s epic, “The Godfather,” begins with the line, “I believe in America.” The film chronicles the tragic story of the Corleone family and their twisted version of the American Dream. It characterizes our national ethos by believing anyone can attain their version of societal success, regardless of where or into which class they …

Changing the American Dream Read More »

Homes

Prints Charming

by Marylynn Uricchio

‘‘I’m not the biggest fan of neutrals,” notes interior designer Molly Singer. That turns out to be a major understatement. The newly renovated home in Fox Chapel she shares with her husband and two children is the definition of exuberance. Color abounds, as does texture and wallpaper. Lots of wallpaper. “I’m a firm believer that you …

Prints Charming Read More »

Sports

Making It Happen

by Charlie Stewart

Mention the game of squash and it will likely conjure a traditional image of men in whites, whacking a hard, hollow ball off the walls of an enclosed court in the rarefied confines of a private club, prep school or eastern college. The indoor game with the long-necked racquet and dark rubber ball hasn’t always …

Making It Happen Read More »

Sports

How Baseball Brings Us Together

by Richard “Pete” Peterson

A. G. Spalding once claimed that baseball likely began with the simple act of a boy tossing a ball into the air. The poet Donald Hall, who wrote a book about Pirates maverick pitcher Dock Ellis saw this simple act evolving into “sons playing catch with fathers” and eventually into a game “on a diamond …

How Baseball Brings Us Together Read More »