Articles Archive - Page 45 of 161 - Pittsburgh Quarterly

All genuine love stories have moments of joy as well as moments of sadness. They may vary in intensity or duration, but they are never absent. Those who think of love as uninterrupted joy are romantics. Those who are obsessed only with sadness deserve their misery. This love story came to me out of coincidence. …

A Love Like No Other Read More »

Creative Capital

The Dramatic Conclusion

by Greg Curtis

Professor H was a formidable, brilliant, intimidating and impossibly rude professor, and I’m sure he was the model for the notorious Prof. Kingsfield in the movie “The Paper Chase” (which was about Harvard Law). Previously in this series: “The Senator’s Big Idea: Joe Biden Saved Me from Pocatello, Part III” Under normal circumstances, I’d never …

The Dramatic Conclusion Read More »

Regional Annual Report

New Paradigm

by Julia Fraser

In 1889, Andrew Carnegie, whose immense wealth was earned along the banks of Pittsburgh’s rivers, called upon his peers to direct their fortunes toward the public good. In “The Gospel of Wealth,” he pitched “an ideal state, in which the surplus wealth of the few will become, in the best sense, the property of the …

New Paradigm Read More »

Health

How Can We Motivate Kids to Exercise?

by Joseph A. Luxbacher

Question: “I have read that American children are falling behind the rest of the world in performance on basic fitness tests. How can we get kids to exercise more and improve their fitness?” Your assessment of the physical status of our younger generation is spot on. Over the last few decades, American children have become …

How Can We Motivate Kids to Exercise? Read More »

Opinion

Ode to the Nose

by Diane Vrabel

Somebody once asked Princess Di to name one thing she would change about herself. Without hesitation, she replied, “My nose.” Ah, the poor, long-suffering nose! Dissed by royals, no less. It’s the most maligned facial feature, but arguably the most indispensable. The eyes may be the windows of the soul, but the nose is the …

Ode to the Nose Read More »

Creative Capital

The Senator’s Big Idea

by Greg Curtis

Joe Biden was my new client because he’d called Joseph Hill Associates to ask about something called “federal revenue sharing” (FRS). Most people live long and happy lives without ever hearing that phrase, but, alas, not me. I was JHA’s resident expert on FRS. Previously in this series: “The Law Works in Mysterious Ways: Joe …

The Senator’s Big Idea Read More »

Nonprofits

Gimme Shelter

by Pohla Smith

Emelee Mihalick, 37, a wife, mother of two and former teacher, has been involved with something else even longer than those three things. The Squirrel Hill resident is a volunteer who cares for dogs at shelters. Currently she is volunteering at the four-year-old Humane Animal Rescue in Pittsburgh’s East End. “My mom walked dogs,” remembered …

Gimme Shelter Read More »

Arts

Decorating the Silver Screen

by Maria Sciullo

Jan Pascale would be really great on a scavenger hunt. Fifty place settings of vintage Blue Willow china? A candlestick telephone? Camera equipment from the 1930s? A lineup of old, clunky manual typewriters? [ngg src=”galleries” ids=”386″ display=”basic_thumbnail” thumbnail_crop=”0″] As a set decorator, she found all this and much more just for one movie, “Mank.” As …

Decorating the Silver Screen Read More »

Regional News

Region Adds Jobs, but Growth Is Slow

by Julia Fraser

Employers in the Pittsburgh region added workers to their payrolls in March, but the modest job gains were a weak signal of recovery from the damage inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic, according the most recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The seven-county Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area gained about 9,000 jobs from February …

Region Adds Jobs, but Growth Is Slow Read More »

Regional Annual Report

Municipal Time Bomb

by Jeffery Fraser

The fear was real last spring as local taxes—the lifeblood of boroughs, townships and cities—were trickling in. The COVID-19 pandemic was closing or impairing businesses in southwestern Pennsylvania, the state and nation. The U.S. unemployment rate soared to nearly 15 percent. “We worried that our revenues would collapse,” said Scott Andrejchak, the municipal manager of …

Municipal Time Bomb Read More »

Homes

Light as Air

by Marylynn Uricchio

Leanne Ford is working from home these days, just like everyone else. But home for Ford means Pittsburgh, as in the entire city and its environs. [ngg src=”galleries” ids=”385″ display=”basic_thumbnail” thumbnail_crop=”0″] The interior designer and star of HGTV’s “Restored by the Fords” is positioning her new season, “Home Again with the Fords,” as part of …

Light as Air Read More »

Birds

It’s a Bird, Not an Insult

by David Liebmann

One April morning when I was watching my feeders, I noticed a woodpecker on a branch. At least I thought it was a plain, old woodpecker. Black and white plumage, chisel-like beak. But there was red on the front of its face and chin. Not the back-of-the-head, red splotch of the male downy or hairy …

It’s a Bird, Not an Insult Read More »

Creative Capital

The Law Works in Mysterious Ways

by Greg Curtis

After I was mustered out of the army, I reapplied to law school to finish my second and third years. I assumed my readmission would be pretty much automatic, but I was wrong — I was put through the wringer. Previously in this series: “Joe Biden Saved Me from Pocatello” Eventually I was required to …

The Law Works in Mysterious Ways Read More »

Nature

Celebrating Spring in Penns Creek Wild Area

by Thomas Saunders

People who have spent time around state College know the surrounding mountains hold countless opportunities for enjoying the outdoors. From winter hiking in the rocky ridgelines and snowshoeing around Bear Meadows Natural Area to spring fishing in Penns Creek’s and Fishing Creek’s famous trout waters, Centre County offers beautiful, remote landscapes in any season. One …

Celebrating Spring in Penns Creek Wild Area Read More »

Food & Wine

Spring Greenery

by Lidey Heuck

After a long winter, the arrival of early spring, however damp and cool, is always welcome. This year especially so, as warmer weather on the horizon promises a reprieve after another pandemic winter. What better way to celebrate the cheerfulness of spring than with a pasta bursting with the bright, crisp flavors of spring’s early …

Spring Greenery Read More »

Creative Capital

Joe Biden Saved Me from Pocatello

by Greg Curtis

I had no intention of going to law school. In fact, I’d already been accepted into a Ph.D. program in English Lit at Yale and fully intended to spend my life writing poetry and teaching literature on some leafy campus. But then I got my draft notice and suddenly I got a lot more realistic …

Joe Biden Saved Me from Pocatello Read More »

PQ Poem

Necessary City

by Emily Mohn-Slate

I’m walking in hard rain in East Liberty no umbrella keeping direction bythe Cathedral rising over the roofs of this city I swore I’d never live in. Nico and Kai shopin Giant Eagle. I know he’s taking good care of him probably making him laugh feeding himcheerios. I could leave get in my car and …

Necessary City Read More »

Arrivals

Baker, Talotta, Franco, Hearn, Reeves, Ramachandran

by PQ Staff

Gretchen Baker will become the Daniel G. and Carole L. Kamin Director of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History on April 1. Baker is currently the managing director for museum experience at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles. She previously served as vice president of exhibitions for the Natural History Museums of …

Baker, Talotta, Franco, Hearn, Reeves, Ramachandran Read More »

Regional Annual Report

Breaking the News

by Bill O'Toole

With their traditional revenue models already suffering a long-term structural decline, local media operations have been further weakened by the government lockdowns and economic havoc accompanying COVID-19. Or as Tom Melia, Washington director of PEN America, the 99-year-old nonprofit that protects free expression, put it: “The pandemic has accelerated almost every contributing factor to the …

Breaking the News Read More »

Sports

Pittsburgh’s Greatest Sports Rivalry: Satchel and Josh

by Richard “Pete” Peterson

On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson, who started his professional career with the Kansas City Monarchs, played his first game with the Brooklyn Dodgers and began the integration of the Major Leagues. This past December, nearly 75 years later, Major League Baseball decided to elevate Negro League Baseball, founded in 1920, from minor-league to major-league …

Pittsburgh’s Greatest Sports Rivalry: Satchel and Josh Read More »

Obituaries

Rooney, Clarke, Habegger, Miller, Thornburgh, Gale, Robinson

by PQ Staff

Patricia Rooney, 88: Married to the late Steelers Chairman Dan Rooney for 65 years and one of four matriarchs of longstanding NFL families, Mrs. Rooney combined her love of family with a commitment to many causes, especially in the North Side neighborhood where she grew up and lived until her death. The mother of nine …

Rooney, Clarke, Habegger, Miller, Thornburgh, Gale, Robinson Read More »

Creative Capital

The Thrilling Conclusion

by Greg Curtis

We now come to the dénouement of my story, with the episode we’ll call The Imposter. On a Saturday evening, I donned my young-lawyer uniform and headed for Glassport, Pa., situs of Copperweld’s headquarters and plants and where I was to stand in for the Baron. Previously in this series: “The Mystery Man: Baron Rothschild …

The Thrilling Conclusion Read More »