Articles Archive - Page 125 of 147 - Pittsburgh Quarterly

In 1960, newspaper columnist max henrici recounted his first visit, 20 years prior, to Raccoon Creek Wildflower Reserve: “It was a revelation. My eyes were opened to a multitude of interesting things… It is not too much to say that my life was revolutionized by this experience….” Henrici became a great amateur botanist and author …

Raccoon Creek Read More »

Opinion

The New News

by Douglas Heuck

It’s said the stock market climbs a wall of worry. Equally so, society. And for the past several years, there’s been great concern about journalism. The common wisdom is that, with newspapers significantly weakened, citizens no longer get the information they need about their communities, and public officials who would be held accountable by the …

The New News Read More »

Homes

Beachy Keen

by Marylynn Uricchio

Waiting at the drawbridge for the fishing boats to pass, a bag of fresh crabs in the back seat and a lazy Gulf breeze ruffling the palms, it’s easy to see why a family from Pittsburgh would want to linger in Boca Grande. Located on tiny Gasparilla Island on the west coast of Florida, it …

Beachy Keen Read More »

Region

Opportunity Knocks

by Douglas Heuck

In Pittsburgh’s industrial heyday, the region dove into recession as the mighty engines of manufacturing throttled way back. And when a recession ended, Pittsburgh roared back, as rising demand jump-started factories. In the past 20 years though, the region has followed a different pattern. Without as much manufacturing and with more healthcare and education jobs, …

Opportunity Knocks Read More »

Profiles

Arnold Palmer, Golfing Legend and Entrepreneur

by Jeff Sewald

I was born in 1929 and raised during the Great Depression in Latrobe, Pa. Life was pretty tough in those days, but thankfully, my mother, father, little sister and I were together a whole lot of the time. We played golf, skied and went to movies—things like that—but we were basically homebodies. I have many …

Arnold Palmer, Golfing Legend and Entrepreneur Read More »

Education

To Educate or Not

by Matt Stroud

When David Wang graduated at the top of his 2008 Mt. Lebanon High School class, he had his pick of prestigious universities. The University of Pittsburgh offered him a full undergraduate scholarship and guaranteed his admission into Pitt’s School of Medicine after his undergraduate degree. So Wang turned down Princeton, Duke, Cal Tech and the …

To Educate or Not Read More »

Sports

The Black Diamond

by Alecia Dean

Before the civil war, what black community existed in Pittsburgh largely included Northern-born free blacks and runaway slaves, many of whom had traveled the Underground Railroad. This small black population would preside over a new generation of African-Americans arriving from the South. In that first Southern, black migration, the city’s African American population grew from …

The Black Diamond Read More »

Books

The Tao of Emily

by Sandra Levis

Readers, rejoice! Despite mounting evidence to the contrary, not everything in the world is getting worse. Novelist Stewart O’Nan, for instance, just keeps getting better and better. The Point Breeze native has long been noted for his use of beautiful, unpretentious prose to document the lives of ordinary people dealing with losses such as deaths, …

The Tao of Emily Read More »

Regional Annual Report

Pittsburgh Today & Tomorrow Report 2011

by Douglas Heuck

In January 1983, unemployment in metropolitan Pittsburgh reached 17.1 percent as deep recession and structural change rocked the region. Steel strikes raged, and famous mills went cold. In time, an unwelcome realization settled in: Pittsburgh would never be the city it had been. As the Bruce Springsteen lyrics went, “Foreman says these jobs are going, …

Pittsburgh Today & Tomorrow Report 2011 Read More »

Retirement

A Touch of Gray

by Christine O'Toole

A thick report called “Boomers in the ’Burgh” arrived the other day, proposing that the city pitch AARP candidates on retiring here. The newest twist on the most-livable-city theme rang a bell. Back in the day, I wrote copy for a local inventions marketing firm, detailing the vast potential for improbable new ideas at $25 …

A Touch of Gray Read More »

Books

Literary Pittsburgh

by Sandra Levis

Kathleen “kit” McCafferty, a victim of childhood sexual abuse, has never discussed her trauma with anyone, and its residual rage and pain have left her estranged from her shell-shocked husband and grown children. Now approaching death, Kit is determined to complete and bequeath to her family a series of confessional notebooks, in order to break …

Literary Pittsburgh Read More »

Arrivals

Rossi, Cotter, Beyer, Graham, Have, Hassenzahl, Berg, Wetenhall

by PQ Staff

Daniel Rossi is executive director of the Animal Rescue League of Western Pennsylvania. A Pittsburgh native, Rossi was most recently in Phoenix, Ariz., where he was executive director of United Cerebral Palsy of Central Arizona. A 22-year veteran of the nonprofit sector, Rossi has a B.S. in administration and management science/economics from Carnegie Mellon University …

Rossi, Cotter, Beyer, Graham, Have, Hassenzahl, Berg, Wetenhall Read More »

Shopping

Prepping for Summer

by Barbara Eichenlaub

Crocuses are peeking through the soil and the snow has melted, meaning just one thing—it’s finally spring! Those who love the outside might have spent the winter poring over seed catalogs and making big plans for their gardens. But for many, reemerging to the outdoors can be challenging. You can use the best landscape architects, …

Prepping for Summer Read More »

Profiles

David M. Matter

by Jeff Sewald

If there’s one thread that runs through my life, it’s the importance of mentorship. I was born in 1946, which makes me a baby-boomer—barely—and grew up in Carrick. Overall, I had a pretty normal upbringing.My first mentor was a high school teacher named Bob Hickey. I had him for German, and he became a dear friend …

David M. Matter Read More »

Special Reports

Pittsburgh Today and Tomorrow 2011

by Pittsburgh Today Staff

In the 2011 Pittsburgh Today & Tomorrow report, readers can assess where Pittsburgh stands compared with 14 other benchmark regions in 10 categories: Arts, Demographics, Economy, Education, Environment, Government, Health, Housing, Public Safety and Transportation. The Regional Indicators considers Greater Pittsburgh to be a 22-county region, including eastern Ohio and northern West Virginia. And as …

Pittsburgh Today and Tomorrow 2011 Read More »

Homes

La Petite Maison

by Marylynn Uricchio

Unlike most of the homes designed by architect Brandon Smith, the stucco, brick and limestone residence in Squirrel Hill isn’t large or imposing. It was built in 1948 for a retired couple who were downsizing, but who wanted an elegant and formal town house. The result is something rare—a small home that boasts the structure …

La Petite Maison Read More »

Business

Politics and the Marcellus Shale

by Seamus McGraw

It was Nov. 3, one day after the stunning midterm elections that had routed the Democrats and left the party in disarray both nationally and in Pennsylvania. The political landscape was still smoldering when Karl Rove, one of the key architects of that Republican victory, stepped to the podium in a Pittsburgh conference center and …

Politics and the Marcellus Shale Read More »

Opinion

Thoughts of Spring

by Douglas Heuck

It’s been another long winter in Pittsburgh. Snow, ice and cold, mixed with work, responsibility and deadlines. So what’s the best thing about a Pittsburgh winter and its low, gray skies? Perhaps that it makes the coming of spring a gift from God. In the spring, as Tennyson said, a young man turns his thoughts …

Thoughts of Spring Read More »

Opinion

Stocks & Pedestal, Spring 2011

by PQ Staff

Medrad: Top manufacturing, again If there is one economic sector that lives in the minds of Americans when they consider Pittsburgh, it’s manufacturing. And excellence in manufacturing is not just in the pages of the region’s history. For the second time in eight years, Medrad has won the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, given …

Stocks & Pedestal, Spring 2011 Read More »

History

Money, Power & Purpose

by William S. Dietrich II

Harvard played its final game of the 1911 baseball season the day after graduation. With Harvard up 4-1 and one out to go, team captain and star pitcher Charles B. “Chick” McLaughlin called time, for a substitution at first base. A lanky redhead came off the Harvard bench. He had failed to make the team …

Money, Power & Purpose Read More »

History

Taking Wing

by Adam Lynch

Not all the thousands of people who regularly pass beneath her glance up, but occasionally, one will stop for a better look. She hangs from the ceiling of the Landside Terminal at Pittsburgh International Airport with her name, Miss Pittsburgh, written on her nose. Further back, on the fuselage of this very old airplane, are …

Taking Wing Read More »

Food & Wine

Valliant’s Diner

by Joseph Sabino Mistick

Pete Valliant arrived in America in 1950 with $20 in his pocket, no English, and a vague notion that he had relatives near Pittsburgh. The Greek merchant sea captain thought he would give the mainland a try, leaving behind his island home on Cephalonia, where Louis de Bernières set his 1994 novel, “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin.” …

Valliant’s Diner Read More »