Articles Archive - Page 15 of 154 - Pittsburgh Quarterly

What might the end of the world be like? According to Michael Simms in his debut novel, Bicycles of the Gods: A Divine Comedy (Madville Books, $ 19.95), it could happen a bit like a “screwball comedy” as he navigates a wacky scenario by using “apocalyptic satire” to boldly comment on the troubled state of …

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Arts

The Carnegie International

by Vicky A Clark

Like it or not, the Carnegie International eclipses everything the Carnegie Museum of Art does. Every director has grumbled about how it commandeers all available resources. But it’s a time-honored tradition, still associated 125 years later with the values of founding father Andrew Carnegie. It has survived the vicissitudes of world wars, economic crises, evolving …

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Creative Capital

Where is This Place?

by Greg Curtis

I was calling Vermont Academy to set up a summer job interview. In those days the protocol was that you let a phone ring 10 times – if your party hadn’t picked up by then he was either on the can or he didn’t want to talk to you. Previously in this series: VAI’d just …

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Nature

Touring Pittsburgh’s Community Flower Gardens

by Thomas Saunders

This column usually focuses on remote places to hike around Western Pennsylvania, but there are beautiful outdoor destinations to see in the heart of Pittsburgh. A biking tour of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy’s community flower gardens is one way to simultaneously enjoy nature and explore the uniqueness of Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods. Each May and June, the …

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Food & Wine

A Simple Summer Treat

by Lidey Heuck

Farm fresh cherry tomatoes are one of summer’s most special and fleeting treats. It’s tough to beat eating them straight from the vine, but when I want to dress them up for company, I make these roasted tomato crostini, with creamy fresh ricotta cheese and a hint of heat from calabrian chili oil. While these …

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Money

Wall of Worry

by PQ Staff

Editor’s note: Pittsburgh Quarterly asked regional financial experts to respond in 200 words or fewer to this question: What are your expectations for inflation, interest rates and U.S. equities (stocks) this year, and how are you advising clients during this continuing market volatility and uncertainty? (Responses were submitted by late April.) Previously in this series: Wall of …

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Creative Capital

VA

by Greg Curtis

It was May, near the end of my freshman year in college, and I was wallowing in the bottom five percent of my class. A lot of people would probably be embarrassed about that, but not me. I’d gone to a lousy high school, had never studied, and didn’t even know how to study. Yet, somehow, almost …

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Pittsburgh Tomorrow

The Downtown Pittsburgh I Recall

by Joseph Gilkey

I was appalled and then saddened by your recent article, “Wake Up! Time to Save Downtown Pittsburgh.” I haven’t lived in Pittsburgh since 1970 when I completed my doctoral studies at Pitt, but I did grow up in the Pittsburgh area and it is a beloved city to me. I grew up in the foundry …

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Money Money

“Anything is possible when imagination and will coincide.” Imagine Pittsburgh in 10 years as a vibrant, multi-cultural hub that has become a beacon for immigrants eager to start a new life in America, work hard, raise a family and get ahead. Imagine if we harness the Pittsburgh diaspora and Pittsburgh becomes the dynamic nexus of …

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Creative Capital

Recalling the End of a Fascinating Company

by Greg Curtis

Last week I described one of the existential challenges that faced the Butler County Mushroom Farm – intense competition from China and, later, other Asian countries, who shipped massive volumes of low-quality mushrooms into the US. Previously in this series: Bye Bye FungiAs BCMF’s revenues and profits declined, another existential challenge arose – the company’s …

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Travel

Going to Gettysburg

by Barbara Eichenlaub

The battle of Gettysburg was fought from July 1-3, 1863, in temperatures nearing 90 degrees. Fighting in wool uniforms and long underwear, with water and food in scarce supply, the 160,000 troops struggled to survive under Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and Union Gen. George Meade, appointed to command the Army of the Potomac just …

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Business Money

Wall of Worry

by PQ Staff

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Travel

Two Pittsburghers on the Road Less Travelled

by Scott Bergstein

Even though we’ve been married for 15 years, Jessica and I converse. Usually, the exchange of thoughts happens as she drinks her morning tea and I, my coffee. The following comments are typical of what you might hear were you an early-rising fly on the wall of our living room. “There’s a new Asian restaurant …

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Creative Capital

Bye Bye Fungi

by Greg Curtis

“The first thing we do is, let’s kill all the lawyers.” — Dick the Butcher in Act IV, Scene II of Shakespeare’s Henry VI, Part II Following the successful sale of stock in Butler County Mushroom Farm to its employees, the company entered into a long and sad decline. I wasn’t around for that unhappy ride because …

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Homes

Design Happy

by Marylynn Uricchio

As a child, Betsy Wentz had the best playroom — the carriage house her mother Kay Wiegand used as the office for her interior design firm. It was packed with color, wallpaper, fabrics and furniture, instilling in Wentz a passion that guided her years later when she decided to switch careers. She had been a …

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Arts

The Audience as Character: Kinetic Theatre’s “Every Brilliant Thing”

by Stuart Sheppard

There are many reasons to like Kinetic Theatre Company’s “Every Brilliant Thing,” but perhaps the best one is in the way it creates a bonding experience with the audience – rare enough these days — and furthermore, that it does so in a manner that is not political, sentimental, or didactic – the three crutches …

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Events

PQ Leads All Magazines for 17th Year

by PQ Staff

For the 17th straight year, Pittsburgh Quarterly has won the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania’s Golden Quill Awards. Photographer John Beale led the field with three Golden Quills, including the Ed Romano Memorial Award for best in show. Pittsburgh Quarterly journalists won award in the following categories (click on the italicized link to see …

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People Pittsburgh Tomorrow

100 Pittsburgh Leaders

by PQ Staff

We asked 100 top leaders across Pittsburgh to respond in 100 words or fewerto this question: According to the U.S. Census, in 2021 the Pittsburgh MSA had the inauspicious distinction of having the highest natural population loss — more deaths than births — of any metro area in the country. Pittsburgh lost 10,838 people, followed …

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Creative Capital

Stock for the Mushroom Workers

by Greg Curtis

“The way to make money in the stock market is to buy a stock. Then, when it goes up, sell it. If it’s not going to go up, don’t buy it.” — Will Rogers Previously in this series: Meddling with MushroomsMy biggest legal project for Butler County Mushroom Farm was also my last. Mr. Y, the …

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Wake Up!

by Douglas Heuck

On a warm April evening, my son and I went Downtown to meet a friend who is alarmed by what Downtown is becoming. Before dinner, we walked around one block, essentially Sixth Avenue to Wood Street to Liberty Avenue to Smithfield Street and back down Sixth Avenue. On Liberty, a group of young people in …

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