Hotel on the End of the World

“Is. This. Ever. Going. To. End?” — Everyone who ever drove the Hana Road I hadn’t even thought about Hawaii for six months and had no intention of ever thinking about it again. But then my phone rang. Previously in this series: Lucky LindyMy boss said, “I can’t tell you how happy I am that we …

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Pittsburgh Quarterly Wins Best Magazine at the 60th Annual Golden Quill Awards

For the 18th year in a row, Pittsburgh Quarterly was judged Western Pennsylvania’s best magazine in the 60th annual Golden Quill Awards.  Pittsburgh Quarterly led all magazines by a wide margin, winning 12 Golden Quills, including Best of Show, in the contest sponsored by the Press Club of Western Pa. and judged by out-of-town journalists. In most …

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Peering into the Future

1: Is Artificial Intelligence (AI) real or hype? If it’s real, what’s the best way to invest in its success? Linda Duessel, Federated Hermes AI isn’t hype but a revolution, reminiscent of the internet a quarter of a century ago. Technological advances across all industries will drive productivity in the next decade — great news …

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The Frick Brings “Once in a Lifetime” Exhibition to Pittsburgh

In the business of collecting art, father and daughter, Henry Clay (1849-1919) and Helen Clay Frick (1888-1984), were a formidable duo. Helen was devoted to him, never changing Clayton, their Pittsburgh home, after her father decamped to New York. She chose to remain in his shadow, but he did include her early in his pursuit …

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Theater Roundup: Barebones and Kinetic Kick Off Strong Summer Season

One of the greatest joys in attending a theatrical performance is not knowing anything about the show beforehand.  This blessing is generally squandered by reviewers who extol plot explication above all other critical duties.  Thus, I am torn in describing two excellent shows currently running in Pittsburgh: Barebones Productions’ “The Animal Kingdom,” and Kinetic Theatre …

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Lucky Lindy

“Hi there big guy.” — Hawaiian Princess Kumonaywonalaya At one point in my career I ran a family office for one of the world’s wealthiest families. When I joined the family office I knew – vaguely – that the Family (as I’ll call them, capitalized) was a major owner of property in the Hawaiian Islands. I …

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The Wonders of Iceland

When you check into the luxurious Silica Hotel at Iceland’s famous Blue Lagoon, the receptionist mentions the possibility that the nearby volcano might erupt. The resort is built on lava fields that date back to the 1200s, but there are miles of fresh lava that stretch endlessly on either side of the highway in this …

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Where Science Meets Play

Oscar Wilde once remarked, “Illusion is the first of all pleasures.” Welcome to the Museum of Illusions, Pittsburgh’s newest playground for both the young and the young at heart. Step into Instagram-worthy exhibits — infinity mirrors, spatial puzzles, and a plethora of mind-twisting fun await. Situated a stone’s throw away from PNC Park, this is …

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All’s Well that Ends…

“You should be kissed often, and by someone who knows how.” Rhett Butler It seemed that everything had been taken care of at the Zurich Cantonal Bank and that we were home free. But I’d overlooked one crucial item. Previously in this series: Switcheroo!After Dr. Brenner and I had shaken hands with the bank officials and …

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An Awkward Introduction to Cyril Wecht

Cyril Wecht’s recent death took me back decades to summer of 1978 and Carnegie Mellon University’s tennis courts.  Two white guys dressed in tennis whites had finished playing and sat on the grass. In my early twenties and in law school, I was one of them.  The other guy, I’ll refer to as “Tom,”  was …

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To Keep Your Balance, You Must Keep Moving

My daughter Phelan was born in 2004. She knows Winona Ryder from the series Stranger Things. She thinks Johnny Depp’s Wino tattoo is because he has a drinking problem; who knows, not judging. Stranger Things is set in the 1980s. The kids in the show ride bikes with banana seats and handlebar tassels, just like …

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Switcheroo!

The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft a-gley. Robert Burns We were parked at a service plaza on Route 3, just inside the Zurich cantonal border, and Dr. Brenner had gotten an urgent message to call his office. Now he and I were standing in the parking lot a ways apart from …

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Ed Simon and the Plight of Milton’s Satan

The notion behind IG Publishing’s “Bookmarked” series is to allow contemporary authors to reflect on how a particular book influenced their journey to becoming writers. “Part autobiography, part literary criticism,” the series aims to guide readers through a deep dive of a single book. The latest installment, Heaven, Hell and Paradise Lost, features Pittsburgh writer …

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It Takes a Village (To Move All That Gold)

My client, Goldie, had spent many annoying decades conducting gold inventories in remote Swiss villages, and now I’d just been informed that it had been totally unnecessary. Previously in this series: Goldie, Part III“But … but …” I said. The Pictet partner explained that while the army’s original strategy (to pull back into the mountains) …

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Remembering the Beehive

A recent study by apartmentguide.com says Pittsburgh ranks sixth highest among 483 U.S. cities for coffee availability, based on population density and coffee establishments per square mile. It wasn’t always that way, before the iconic Beehive Coffeehouse opened in 1989 on East Carson Street. Readers and regulars alike can thank local journalist David Rullo for …

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DeForrest, Singer, Diab, van Baarle, Dragga, Hembree, Rosenthal

Jasmin DeForrest has been named managing director of The Heinz Endowments’ Creativity Strategic Area. Previously, she was senior director for Arts and Culture at the Detroit-based Gilbert Family Foundation and has more than 20 years of experience in grantmaking, nonprofit leadership, sponsorship management, entrepreneurship and event production. The Detroit native was community sponsorships director for the …

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Goldie, Part III

No military plan survives the first contact with the enemy. von Moltke the Elder I’m describing how a lawyer conducts a gold inventory, just in case some of my readers might need help with their bullion in the future. Previously in this series: The Routine of Gold After we completed the inventory at the little bank …

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Quest for Cake

A birthday celebration calls for a birthday cake and gifts. As far as I’m concerned, forget about the gifts, but keep the cake. My love affair with birthday cakes began when I was four. Each morning on his way to work, my Uncle Eddie drove his two aunts and my mom to their jobs and …

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What Was that White Bird?

The first time I saw the white bird flying overhead, I thought I’d gone slightly mad because large white birds are not common in the Ligonier Valley. I was riding my bike on a rural road between two cow fields, a herd of black-angus eyeing me warily. I pedaled slowly, watching what I presumed was …

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The Routine of Gold

When Goldie asked me to conduct the gold inventory for her, I’d simply assumed that her gold was stored in the vast vault under the Credit Suisse headquarters building on the Bahnhofstrasse in downtown Zurich. After all, she’d been a good customer of the bank for decades. Previously in this series: GoldieI’d planned to walk …

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McGinnis, Bucci, LaDuke, Rescher, Simmons, Beck, Posvar, Reichblum, Donley, Rocco, Snyder, Rierson

Gerald “Jerry” McGinnis, 89A celebrated biomedical engineer, McGinnis turned a fledgling medical device company founded in his kitchen in 1976 into Respironics, a global empire that was later bought by Royal Phillips for $1.5 billion. He was the inventor of the first mass-produced breathing machine — a device now used worldwide for sleep apnea and …

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Financial Literacy: What’s it Worth?

Editor’s note: We asked a group of local financial leaders to weigh in on this question: How important is increasing financial literacy among our society and your potential customer base and what programs do you have to educate citizens in making responsible financial decisions, whether on mortgages, insurance products, loans, investments or savings?   VINCENT …

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