Miss Me Forever Hits “Home” with Bhutanese Protagonist

Tulsi Gurung is in a jam. that could be the abridged version of Erie native Eugene Cross’s latest novel, Miss Me Forever, in which his likable protagonist gets put through the paces. A more nuanced look at this highly readable story, set in Erie and Pittsburgh, might be that the orphaned Nepalese immigrant who arrives …

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Take a Trip, Find a Puffin

Summer in Pittsburgh is pretty fine, but it’s good to explore farther afield now and again. That’s how I came to find myself on a bobbing boat beyond the breakwater of New Harbor, Maine. We were cruising out to look for Atlantic Puffins on Eastern Egg Rock, a five-mile trip on what were calm seas. …

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Tuomas Sandholm: AI’s Benefits Far Outweigh its Dangers- Here’s Why

For Tuomas Sandholm, it’s no contest. The co-director of Carnegie Mellon University Artificial Intelligence (CMU AI) firmly believes the benefits of artificial intelligence far outweigh the downsides. “AI can make better decisions than humans, which will make the world a better place,” he says. To better understand his perspective, look at his track record. In …

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The Moon is Just a World that Never Heals: Quantum Nails O’Neill

It is a precept of Zen art to incorporate the spaces between objects into a creation, and to consider them just as significant as the objects depicted.  In flower arrangement, for example, the areas between the branches are just as important – if not more so – than the branches themselves. We find the embodiment …

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Four Shorts

Four Shorts 1.organic green(for Pat who died too young)when you come back you will leada flock of mallards through novice blueno more brown speckled plumagecourting distorted imagesin stagnant pond water your glossy bottle-green head will burnthe wind jealous-amber as alwaysyour wild feathers so fowllight will follow you 2.Construction Worker(about an eighth grade girl) She could …

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You Can Go Home Again

In 2010, Forbes magazine ranked Pittsburgh as the “most livable city in the United States.” It has fluctuated from three to nine in the rankings since then, but it consistently is among the top 10 with respect to “friendliness, economic opportunity, civic pride” and other positives. In 2010, writers came from across the country — …

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To My Young Self

To My Young Self you took up  nearly  no space  so quiet  you were   never heard   or seen    see here   in the front yard      among the mini Japanese maple tree   the Oregon  grape bush    the stained-brown      fence  beyond    you were a piece  of beauty bark   merely ground  …

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Edgy Road Adventures Lift Anne Ray’s Debut Scenic Overlook

Part monomyth, part road-trip adventure, Scenic Overlook, Carnegie Mellon University grad Anne Ray’s debut collection of linked stories has the feel of a throwback. Mostly set in the analog, though not uncomplicated, time of the late 1990s, Ray uses 13 narratives to build something novelistic as her protagonist, Katie Hight, a 21-year-old college student on …

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Is China Invincible?

Many in the West are convinced that modern China is an invincible regime. We watched China transition in just a few decades from a poor agricultural society into a manufacturing and industrial colossus. We witnessed Xi Jinping become the undisputed leader of China in 2013 and emerge even more powerful than Mao Zedong at the …

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The Sea Lion Who Saved The Boy Who Jumped From the Golden Gate

The Sea Lion Who Saved The Boy Who Jumped From the Golden Gate 1.All my slippery-slick dark life,whether at sea with a raftof sisters and brothers,or on rockssprawled in a colony,I’ve loved the water.Sometimesin the depthsI’ll sleep,then waketo breakthrough water’s skinto look at stars —swallowing them with my eyes.I’ve loved tunnelingtwistingturningcelebratingthe impossible freedomof having no …

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Remaking Downtown Pittsburgh, Pt. 6

Editor’s note: We invited 13 regional leaders to give their thoughts on how to revitalize and reinvigorate Downtown Pittsburgh. Despite numerous emails back and forth with the communications staff of Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey from March 15 to April 20, the Mayor did not offer his thoughts on Downtown Pittsburgh. The responses of 12 other …

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Poison Ivy Flourishes on Carbon Dioxide

One of my husband’s first tasks when we moved to the farm 36 years ago was to remove poison ivy from the trees. He never used chemicals, just his two (gloved) hands. He came home time and time again with poison ivy pustules on his wrists that leaked liquid for three weeks. “A fool’s errand,” …

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The Factory

The FactoryI start my shift as jars and bottles marchin perfect ranks and files from the oven,glass soldiers of an army on parade.An electric selector inspects theirwarm bodies for weakness; those that don’t passmuster must be mustered out—returned tothe furnace to be melted and recast.Maybe on their next try they can run theobstacle course. Those …

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Oh What a Year!

When the fab four’s plane touched down in Pittsburgh at 4:36 p.m. on Sept. 14, 1964, I was among the 4,000 screaming fans waiting to catch a glimpse of John, Paul, George and Ringo. When tickets went on sale that spring for $5.90, my aunt bought three: one for me, one for my cousin Linda, …

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Remaking Downtown Pittsburgh, Pt. 5

Editor’s note: We invited 13 regional leaders to give their thoughts on how to revitalize and reinvigorate Downtown Pittsburgh. Despite numerous emails back and forth with the communications staff of Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey from March 15 to April 20, the Mayor did not offer his thoughts on Downtown Pittsburgh. The responses of 12 other …

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Seeing Reds: The Pirates’ 1970s Rivals

Early in the 1974 season, with the Pirates struggling after finishing April at 6-12, Dock Ellis took the mound against the Cincinnati Reds.  In spring training, Ellis vowed that he would hit the first five Reds batters because the Pirates had lost their aggressiveness and self-respect ever since their painful loss to the Reds in …

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Noteworthy Summer 2024

Stop the StrikeFor the past 18 months, Pittsburgh has endured the divisive antipathy of a newspaper strike between the Post-Gazette and five unions. While it’s understandable that workers would like to see better wages and benefits, it’s also clear that the newspaper industry has been in a steep, often terminal, decline for decades. The only …

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Remaking Downtown Pittsburgh, Pt. 4

Editor’s note: We invited 13 regional leaders to give their thoughts on how to revitalize and reinvigorate Downtown Pittsburgh. Despite numerous emails back and forth with the communications staff of Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey from March 15 to April 20, the Mayor did not offer his thoughts on Downtown Pittsburgh. The responses of 12 other …

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The Reality of AI

Editor’s note: ( We asked leading wealth managers: Is AI real or hype? If it’s real what’s the best way to invest in its success? Their answers follow) James Armstrong, Henry Armstrong AssociatesAI certainly has been hyped to an extreme in recent times. However, it is real, and there will be areas where it will …

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Morning Yoga

Morning Yoga The yoga ladies gather at daybreak,drag plastic chairs over cracked earthinto straggling rows. Bright greetings and murmured joysflit lightly through the clustered groups,conspire against the teacher’s drone: “Bring silence to your Practice,breathe deeply—inhale, sustain, and exhale—listen to the sacred sound of Ommm. . .” But the yoga ladies gather to gossip,exchange the tremors …

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No Country for Old Men

Every advanced society struggles with the problem of how to provide the best and most advanced healthcare to the greatest number of people without bankrupting the economy. It’s a legitimate problem but it’s one that is being handled abysmally by most of the developed world. Previously in this series: Death of the Famous AirmanConsider two …

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How Long Will the Magnificent Seven Last?

(Editor’s note: We asked leading wealth managers:  Will the magnificent 7 technology stocks continue to lead the market going forward?  Their answers follow.) Win Smathers, Shorebridge Wealth Management  I wouldn’t bet against the tech juggernauts continuing to lead the broader market despite having extended valuations.  These seven names; Meta, Amazon, Nvidia, Microsoft, Alphabet, Apple and …

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