20 Years of Interviews, Pt. V

Editor’s note: The Pittsburgh Quarterly team has interviewed many of the most interesting and noteworthy people in our “city-state of Pittsburgh” as my old editor and friend John Craig used to call this area. The number of interviews that have appeared in this magazine reaches well into the hundreds (writer Jeff Sewald alone has interviewed nearly 80). As a special 20th anniversary issue treat and a tribute to the greatness of the light and lives that course through Pittsburgh, we’ve put together a compendium of thoughts from a fraction of these interviews. We’re sorry we can’t include all — space simply won’t allow it. But I hope you enjoy reading the wit and wisdom of these Pittsburghers, many no longer with us, as much as I enjoyed editing them.
– Douglas Heuck

Previously in this series: 20 Years of Interviews, Pt. IV

Chip Ganassi
Auto Racing Entrepreneur
“I meet people all the time who say, ‘Boy, when I was a teenager, I had no idea what I wanted to do.’ Or ‘I didn’t find out what I wanted to do until I was 30.’ That seems really strange to me because, at every point in my life, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. At 14, I wanted to go ski racing or to race motorcycles. I was going to take over my dad’s business, too. Things changed as I got older, but I always had a goal. I always had something I wanted to do.

“My father and mother both had a huge influence on me. They weren’t really encouraging or discouraging. They just sort of went along with my ideas and let me find my own way, helping me from time to time. They believed that experience was good. With their approval, I was always able to try things.”

Karla Boos
Theater Founder and Director
“When I conceived Quantum Theatre, it didn’t feel like I was starting a company; it felt like I was an artist intent upon making work that was large in scope and reach, and Pittsburgh seemed like a great place to do it. After all, I was familiar with the city from my days at Pitt, and it was of a manageable size. I found that I could arrange meetings with people who would listen to me. And, even though I was talking about doing something different, they responded.

“In Pittsburgh, I encountered a kind of openness and an enabling quality that I still feel today. I tell young people that if you can articulate what it is you want to do, and it delivers something that people feel is unique and meaningful, you can leverage that into something that grows. If you enable people to become attached and involved with your creativity and your creative process, they will want to be a part of what you create. There is a great tradition of philanthropy in Pittsburgh, and support for the arts. People here want to create. They want to enable things.”

Andy Masich
Historian, Museum Director
“Given that my father died young, at age 40, it was my mother who raised me. Everything I am I owe to my mother, who was a strong woman. I don’t think she even had a driver’s license when my dad passed. She had to learn so many things quickly for us to have a chance. Eventually, she went back to school and became a public-school speech therapist while struggling mightily to keep us together. We were latch-key kids, which, in some ways, was good. It taught us to be independent.”

Andy Russell
Pittsburgh Steeler and Businessman
“Only five of us survived the march to winning the Super Bowl in 1975. When you consider people who are successful, they almost always have great attitudes. They are also driven to work hard. Chuck Noll used to say, ‘Life is a journey — and you never arrive.’ You shouldn’t want to arrive. Once you think you’ve arrived, you’ll stop pushing to get better.”

Elsie Hillman
Civic Leader and Philanthropist
“Before I was married, I didn’t think too much about where I was going. Life just sort of happened for me, and it happened in a good way. As for my husband Henry, he worked hard to become as successful as he’s become. His family was not poor to begin with, of course, but it was nowhere near as prominent as our family is today. He made the Hillman Company what it is. He’s a good decision-maker and is painfully honest with himself and other people, too. Sometimes, when we write out a large check from one of our foundations to a worthy organization, I think to myself, ‘How is it that we are able to do such a thing?’ Like Henry and me, and our kids, other Pittsburghers of considerable means must learn to be concerned about what’s going on around them in their community. We don’t live alone. None of us are islands. We must pay attention to the needs of others. After all, that’s what community is about.”

Ed Rendell
Governor
“I like interacting with and helping people. And even though I’ve been out of office for nearly two years now, people still come to me for help — not as a lawyer, but as an advocate — if they’re, say, having trouble getting a license renewed or getting the City of Philadelphia to clean a vacant lot. Sometimes all it takes is a phone call. My staff says, ‘Why do you do that? It’s a waste of your time.’ But it’s what I’ve done all my life. Of course, I do get the ‘I’m sorry to interrupt your lunch, but…’ routine a lot. But as I say to my friends, ‘Coal miners have to deal with getting dust in their lungs all day; all I have to contend with are people stopping me for my autograph, to ask questions, or to have a picture taken with me.’ It’s an easy tradeoff. My son used to say, ‘It takes my dad three times as long as anybody else to walk a block.’ But it’s a small price to pay.”

David Matter
Developer and Political Advisor
“When I look back on my life, everything I’ve accomplished and everything I’ve become has been because of someone else — their advice, their giving me an opportunity. You just can’t figure things out or plan well enough to do it on your own. If you don’t have help — and some good luck — it’s pretty hard to succeed out there.”