Articles Archive - Page 13 of 156 - Pittsburgh Quarterly

If any bird qualifies as the neighbor we’ve known our whole lives, it has to be the chickadee. Gregarious, sprightly, and fearless, chickadees can become so habituated to people and the offer of birdseed that they’ll literally eat out of your hand. They’re at our windows wherever a feeder goes up, finding the food within …

Fond and Friendly Read More »

Creative Capital

Shaken not Stirred? Tisk Tisk

by Greg Curtis

The martini (continued) Global consternation erupted when, in Dr. No, James Bond ordered a Smirnoff vodka martini. He then compounded this felony by instructing that it be “shaken, not stirred.” Previously in this series: How Does a Cocktail Achieve “Classic” Status?Here is the original text of this unfortunate incident: [In the prior scene Bond ultimately wins …

Shaken not Stirred? Tisk Tisk Read More »

Arrivals People Pittsburgh Immigration

Fighting Through Tears

by Tracy Certo

Grisell Espinoza was in limbo in 2014, wondering whether to stay in Pittsburgh or return to her native Venezuela where political turmoil was getting worse. Her only friend in town, a fellow Venezuelan, helped her get work at a restaurant until she could find a job in her profession as a civil engineer. But as …

Fighting Through Tears Read More »

Books

His Father’s Son

by David J. Garrow

For the first 37 years following his 1945 birth, August Wilson was a Pittsburgh nobody, abandoned by his white German father, Frederick August Kittel, and disdained by his black mother, Daisy Wilson, once he dropped out of school in the ninth grade. Self-educated thanks to thousands of hours spent in multiple Carnegie Library branches, Freddy …

His Father’s Son Read More »

Creative Capital

How Does a Cocktail Achieve “Classic” Status?

by Greg Curtis

The Daiquiri The Daiquiri is one of those terrific drinks that happened by accident. Around the turn of the twentieth century an American engineer named Cox, working in the small town of Daiquiri in Puerto Rico, was entertaining some American visitors. He was about to whip up some drinks but realized he was out of …

How Does a Cocktail Achieve “Classic” Status? Read More »

People Profiles

Seven Questions for George Greer

by Douglas Heuck

Editor’s Note: On Saturday, July 26th, George Greer passed away at the age of 92. A native of Sharon, Pa., he became a longtime mainly behind-the-scenes leader in Pittsburgh and successful advocate for broad community progress, leading the Eden Hall Foundation. On the occasion of his passing, I thought you would enjoy reading a recent …

Seven Questions for George Greer Read More »

Obituaries People

Conway, Buford, Oshry, Morby, Moriarity, O’Reilly, Nutting, Ochester, Eberle, Courtney

by PQ Staff

Tom Conway, 71 International president of United Steelworkers since 2019, Conway was committed to making things in America and remained unwilling to accept that globalization was better. He tried to make changes in manufacturing that would lead to a cleaner environment and worker health and safety. A legendary negotiator who believed in the union ideal of “stronger …

Conway, Buford, Oshry, Morby, Moriarity, O’Reilly, Nutting, Ochester, Eberle, Courtney Read More »

Creative Capital

Speaking of Drinks…

by Greg Curtis

Tiki two As I mentioned, I came of legal drinking age at a time when you could only get tiki drinks at Chinese restaurants. The pioneering Don The Beachcomber was no more, and as far as I knew all the Trader Vic’s had closed, except for a few locations abroad. Previously in this series: The …

Speaking of Drinks… Read More »

Nature

Spring Blooming Plants Blooming in Fall

by Daryln Brewer Hoffstot

It’s the holiday season and my rural Pennsylvania town is bursting with the signs of Christmas: wreaths hung on doors, trees strung with colorful lights, a creche erected in the town square — and spring-flowering plants in bloom. My forsythia is blooming a bright yellow. White lilac flowers are just dying back. Pink magnolia buds …

Spring Blooming Plants Blooming in Fall Read More »

Nonprofits

Charitable Giving: Why Does it Matter?

by PQ Staff

Editor’s note: In this season of giving, we asked some of the region’s nonprofit leaders to answer a simple question: Why is charitable giving so important in our society? Part II Laura Kelly. Brothers BrotherCharitable giving builds a foundation for a better future by promoting understanding, kindness, and collective efforts towards positive change. When members …

Charitable Giving: Why Does it Matter? Read More »

Creative Capital

The Tiki Phenomenon

by Greg Curtis

I had the great misfortune to reach legal drinking age just as the tiki drink phenomenon was turning into a parody of itself. Formerly terrific drinks such as the Zombie, the Scorpion and the Rum Runner were now available only in Chinese restaurants and they all tasted exactly alike, being made by then out of …

The Tiki Phenomenon Read More »

Opinion

Noteworthy

by PQ Staff

Different Views of Christopher ColumbusOn Oct. 12, in Madrid, Spain, an enormous and colorful parade of national pride snaked its way through the streets of the Spanish capital. The “National Day of Spain” is the country’s biggest civic holiday, celebrating Spanish history and achievements and reconfirming Spaniards’ commitment to the nation’s future. The date commemorates …

Noteworthy Read More »

Nonprofits

Charitable Giving: Why Does it Matter?

by PQ Staff

Editor’s note: In this season of giving, we asked some of the region’s nonprofit leaders to answer a simple question: Why is charitable giving so important in our society? Part I Abigayle Tobia, VerlandCharitable giving is the lifeblood of a compassionate society. When we invest in the big ideas of nonprofits, our entire community becomes …

Charitable Giving: Why Does it Matter? Read More »

Creative Capital

Strange but True Tales from the Bottle

by Greg Curtis

TOCSC pays for itself I had barely dipped my toe into The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails (TOCSC) when the book paid for itself – which is saying something – because I found the guy I want to be in my next life. I was still early in the B’s (the TOCSC entries are alphabetical) when I came …

Strange but True Tales from the Bottle Read More »

Nonprofits

Charitable Giving: Why Does it Matter?

by PQ Staff

Editor’s note: In this season of giving, we asked some of the region’s nonprofit leaders to answer a simple question: Why is charitable giving so important in our society? Tim Parks, Life’sWork of Western Pa.I begin with another question: How can I, as an individual, make a positive difference in society? On reflection, I recall …

Charitable Giving: Why Does it Matter? Read More »

PQ Poem

Interstate Five

by Ryler Dustin

Interstate Five What remains of these lost deltasafter the mills shut down: an artof disappearing, black-windowed bars,the towers of a closed factorystill blinking their red lights to hideno work’s inside. For yearsI drove past these roadside dinerscarved out of rain, trailer parks linedwith European trees, the truck stopwhere cigarette smoke driftsinto the air like a …

Interstate Five Read More »

Opinion Pittsburgh Immigration

Pittsburgh Tomorrow

by Douglas Heuck

When I came to Pittsburgh in 1985, it was a great city — the late David McCullough called it “the essential American city.” But it was a great city in shock. The massive industrial economy had collapsed and 150,000 to 200,000 mainly young people were leaving for greener pastures. I expected to stay for my …

Pittsburgh Tomorrow Read More »

Creative Capital

The Oxford Companion — a Drinker’s Bible

by Greg Curtis

“What whiskey won’t cure there is no cure for.” — Irish proverb Maybe you’ve noticed those annoying people who conduct all their video calls in front of a carefully curated bookcase full of impossibly erudite volumes that no one – including them – ever actually reads. What you won’t find on those carefully curated bookcases …

The Oxford Companion — a Drinker’s Bible Read More »

Food & Wine

Warm the Cockles of Your Heart with Chestnut Soup

by Lidey Heuck

“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire” — it’s an image that instantly evokes crackling logs and the warmth and cheer of the holidays. But how often are chestnuts actually on the menu? In Italy, where many of the chestnuts sold in the U.S. are grown, they’re popular in the fall and early winter, roasted by …

Warm the Cockles of Your Heart with Chestnut Soup Read More »

Arts

Combining the Political and Artistic

by Vicky A Clark

We live a media world, constantly bombarded with unprecedented information delivered on various platforms. It can be next to impossible to separate fact and from, but everyone has the right to an opinion. Many still believe that the art museum, the so-called palace of culture, should remain steeped in the beautiful and provide an escape …

Combining the Political and Artistic Read More »

Arts

Barebones’ “American Buffalo” is Stunning and Revelatory Theater

by Stuart Sheppard

In trying to describe the essence of strong writing – and ultimately, all art — the poet Wallace Stevens said, “A grandiose subject is not an assurance of a grandiose effect, but most likely, the opposite.” What we have in David Mamet’s “American Buffalo” (1975) is the embodiment of this ethos, as the play brings …

Barebones’ “American Buffalo” is Stunning and Revelatory Theater Read More »

Creative Capital

Face the Facts About a “Multipolar” World

by Greg Curtis

“It is simply a myth that the world is anywhere close to multipolar.” — Jo Inge Bekkevold, Norwegian Institute for Defense Studies Previously in this series: Europe’s Shrinking RelevanceWhy is it that so many commentators insist that we live in a multipolar world? Part of it is simply ideological blindness. The university community, like it …

Face the Facts About a “Multipolar” World Read More »