Articles Archive - Page 26 of 154 - Pittsburgh Quarterly

On a Pedestal, Summer 2022 Read More »

When Harris Ferris became executive director, the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre had lost its orchestra and faced a mountain of debt and a dubious future. Nearly 17 years later, he leaves the PBT stronger than ever. A former principal dancer, armed with a Rutgers MBA and a winning personality, Ferris expanded the company’s national and international …

Nature

The Perch

by Kate Benz

I have found a perch. It’s at the top of a rocky, rutted trail that shoots up a 70-degree angle from terra firma. Today’s destination: closer to the clouds. I have a book, The Genius of Birds, an old, wooden folding chair that functions as a plant stand in our living room, and a bottle …

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People

Seven Young Women Debut at the 96th Cinderella Ball

Seven Young Women Debut at the 96th Cinderella Ball Read More »

Friends and family gathered over Memorial Day weekend at the Allegheny Country Club for the 96th presentation of the Cinderella Ball. The Ball celebrates a formal introduction to society for a group of debutantes and the culmination of a year of charitable work and personal development through the completion of the Leadership Forum for Young …

Books

Taking Flight With the Ordinary

by Fred Shaw

“Speaking from the gut” was known in ancient Greece as gastromancy. It also became known as an early form of ventriloquism. According to Encyclopaedia Brittanica, “the noises produced by the stomach were thought to be the voices of the unliving, who took up residence in the stomach of the ventriloquist. The ventriloquist would then interpret …

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U.S. Policy Blunders Helped Provoke Ukraine War

U.S. Policy Blunders Helped Provoke Ukraine War Read More »

Whose Fault is the Ukraine War? “[Post-Cold War], many American elites embraced a vision of a U.S.-led ‘liberal international order’ which could theoretically integrate the entire world… into a single, globalized whole.” – Stephen Kotkin, Princeton University Previously in this series: A Coat of Varnish Part V, ESG Investors Need to Wake Up to Reality …

Food & Wine

How About a Delicious Peach Cobbler (and more)?

by Barbara Eichenlaub

There is something about comfort food that evokes a feeling of old-fashioned delight. And when it comes to dessert, there’s nothing like fruit cobbler, bread pudding, gobs or banana pudding to transport you to a time when calories didn’t count and a big scoop of dessert made everything better. Today, not everyone has time to …

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Business Money

Rough Ride for Markets

Rough Ride for Markets Read More »

Editor’s note: Pittsburgh Quarterly asked regional financial experts to respond to two questions, one about effects on the economy of the war in Ukraine and the other of the effects Federal Reserve actions (or inaction). Many of their answers to the first question are below, followed by the second question and many of their answers …

ESG Investors Need to Wake Up to Reality

ESG Investors Need to Wake Up to Reality Read More »

Will ESG Finally Grow Up? “ESG is a huge, gross gravy train for fund managers, consultants, and marzipan layer technocrats of various flavors. The whole thing is rotten. If you work in the space, your choices are to be a useless idiot trolling in the trenches for what you think is a good cause, be …

Regional News

Opportunity Awaits, but…

by Jeffery Fraser

Kendell Pelling knows vacant and blighted property. For more than 15 years he was in charge of land recycling at East Liberty Development, Inc. There, he saw how, even in a real estate market that was heating up, new houses priced to sell couldn’t find a buyer when blight was nearby. But once the abandoned …

Opportunity Awaits, but… Read More »

Events

Pittsburgh Quarterly Wins 15 Golden Quills

Pittsburgh Quarterly Wins 15 Golden Quills Read More »

For the 16th year in a row, Pittsburgh Quarterly led all magazines by a wide margin in the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania’s Golden Quill Awards for journalistic excellence. PQ writers, photographers, illustrators and cartoonists dominated the 58th annual competition with 15 Golden Quills, including Best of Show. If you would like to read and …

Nature

Making the Cut

by Kate Benz

I need to get the chains from our chainsaws resharpened, but there’s a line at Lloyd’s counter. June is standing in front of me, a gas-powered, STIHL MS 251 CB-E with the 20” bar in her hand. June is 80 years old. Thin as a rail. Her back curves like an S, she kinda leans …

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The Fed’s Failure – and There Goes Climate Change

The Fed’s Failure – and There Goes Climate Change Read More »

The Fed Is Having a Bad War “The Fed’s odds [of achieving a soft landing] are now substantially below 50-50.” — Alan Blinder “The Fed that Failed.” Title of an article in “The Economist” “I have been humbled.” Fed Chair Jay Powell Previously in this series: A Coat of Varnish Part IV, History’s Lessons and Historic …

Money

Will Stocks Go Lower this Year?

Will Stocks Go Lower this Year? Read More »

Editor’s note: Pittsburgh Quarterly asked regional financial experts to respond to this question: “Do you believe U.S. markets have already seen their lowest levels for 2022? If so, why? If not, why not?” The question was asked in March with an April deadline. We thank them for giving readers their responses, which follow. Linda Duessel, …

Arts Culture

The Tamburitzans, Pittsburgh’s Oldest Stage Act, Holds Fundraising Gala

The Tamburitzans, Pittsburgh’s Oldest Stage Act, Holds Fundraising Gala Read More »

“The Tamburitzans share the world’s cultures through folk song and dance, as well as through authentic ethnic dress, with audiences across the United States,” said Alyssa Bushunow, Tamburitzans Executive Director. “By coming together to celebrate the folk culture of diverse nations — most traditionally those in Central and Eastern Europe —The Tamburitzans transcend politics to …

Obituaries

Hampton, Gumberg, Fox, O’Brien, Weber, Green

Hampton, Gumberg, Fox, O’Brien, Weber, Green Read More »

Slide Hampton, 89The virtuoso jazz trombonist, bandleader and Grammy Award-winning composer and musical arranger hailed from Jeannette, where his sister gave him the nickname Slide. One of 12 children, he spent his entire life in music, beginning as a singer and dancer with a family band and progressing to trombone at age 12. The Hampton …

Arts Culture

PICT Theatre’s “Endgame”

by Stuart Sheppard

“Endgame” is an enormous play set in a small room occupied by four persons who speak absurdly, recounting stories or delivering monologues apropos of nothing — as nursing home residents often do — prompted by memories that float into their minds from the effects of old age, disease, or boredom. Written by Samuel Beckett as …

PICT Theatre’s “Endgame” Read More »

History’s Lessons and Historic Mistakes

History’s Lessons and Historic Mistakes Read More »

Angela Merkel’s Reputation Is Trashed – But Is America at Fault? Merkel’s reign at the top of Germany’s political apparatus was remarkable, and she stepped down as something of a secular saint with a 77% approval rating. But it’s amazing what six months can do. Previously in this series: A Coat of Varnish Part III, …

Home & Lifestyle Homes

A Classic Colonial

by Marylynn Uricchio

Houses are like people in many ways. They tend to get better with age as they develop character and the rich patina that comes from living, and being lived in. Up to a point, that is. And then they start to require maintenance, and eventually, if they last long enough, more serious renovation. Such was …

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Obituaries

Favorini, DeSantis, Johnson, Virdon, Diamond, Baskin

Favorini, DeSantis, Johnson, Virdon, Diamond, Baskin Read More »

Attilio “Buck” Favorini, 78After earning a Ph.D. in History of the Theatre from Yale, the New York City native came to Pittsburgh in 1969 and spent 50 years here, founding the Three Rivers Shakespeare Festival, which became one of the top Shakespeare festivals in America. He joined the Pitt faculty and founded the university’s Theatre …

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