Articles Archive - Page 78 of 154 - Pittsburgh Quarterly

PSO’s “Voyage at Sea” Takes Guests on a Musical Journey Read More »

On Saturday, September 15, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra hosted its annual gala at Heinz Hall. This year’s theme, Voyage at Sea: A Passage to the Mediterranean, took attendees on a musical journey around the world. The evening began with a cocktail hour in the Heinz Hall Garden, followed by the Gala concert, featuring Maestro Manfred …

Events

35th Annual Family House Polo Match Raises $250,000

35th Annual Family House Polo Match Raises $250,000 Read More »

The 35th Annual Family House Polo Match was held at Hartwood Acres on Saturday, September 15. The match drew 2,000 guests. $250,000 was raised to support the Family House mission of providing affordable, home-like accommodations to patients and families who travel to Pittsburgh for medical care. Event highlights included a professional polo match, tailgating, a …

Opinion

On a Pedestal: Magee-Womens Research Institute

On a Pedestal: Magee-Womens Research Institute Read More »

Many Pittsburghers have a somewhat vague idea that the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC successfully attract federal dollars to support their varied research activities. But the extent of that success in recent years is almost shocking when you look at the numbers and the rankings. Last year, Pitt ranked 10th on the list of the …

Why We Don’t Take Our Meds (Again)

Why We Don’t Take Our Meds (Again) Read More »

Recently, two journalists (Tim Harford and Simon Kuper) working for the Financial Times of London attended the FT Weekend Festival. The topic of their onstage conversation was “the nightmare of writing a weekly column.” Tell me about it. I don’t know about Harford and Kuper, but when I’m stumped for a subject to write about …

Ageless Wisdom: Cyril Wecht, 87 Read More »

Ageless Wisdom: Cyril Wecht, 87

by John Beale

In part five of this video series, Cyril Wecht, age 87, shares his path to forensic pathology and discusses what is important in life. The secret to longevity? It’s probably genetics, over which I have no control. My father and mother, who were immigrants, lived beyond their life expectancy, despite the very hard work they …

Regional News

Up in Smoke

by Julia Fraser

Dan Ward is 27 and lives in Pittsburgh’s Garfield neighborhood. He is mostly vegan, rides his bike to work and walks in the park as often as he can. He also vaped for several years, using an electronic cigarette to satisfy a need to “have one vice to balance my otherwise healthy lifestyle.” Diane Lavsa …

Up in Smoke Read More »

American Spirit

Ten Minutes of Lovely

by Kate Benz, photography by John Altdorfer

“Okay, so I’ll do two hundred of the Hey Rosemary,” Samantha says, tying a white, plastic apron around her waist before opening two, overflowing three-ring binders. “Wait… three hundred Hey Rosemary. We are really low on Hey Rosemary. I need to make Lady Macbeth again… and I’m out of Gertrude! I’m completely out of Gertrude!” …

Ten Minutes of Lovely Read More »

History

The Great Banishment of 1923

by Cody McDevitt

Robert Young was one of the bad characters in Rosedale, a black neighborhood of Johnstown, after he arrived in 1923. Rumors swirled that he had committed murder in his native state of Alabama. And he had been having troubles with his significant other, Rose Young, since they arrived for him to work in the mills …

The Great Banishment of 1923 Read More »

Fed Folly and its Practical Effects

Fed Folly and its Practical Effects Read More »

“The… task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.” –Friedrich von Hayek Adam Smith was the first to name the “the invisible hand” so felicitously, but he was hardly the first to notice the existence of such a phenomenon. The idea of an …

PQ Poem

The Myriad Lives I Lead Inside My Own

by David Ades

Observe the day. Observe how it is spring warm in the middle of winter, the sky unclouded blue, the air full of undefined promise. Observe my daughter’s excitement at the prospect of a birthday party, running with arms flapping, singing for the joy of it, unbridled, unrestrained. Observe how picturesque all the houses look on …

The Myriad Lives I Lead Inside My Own Read More »

Nature

Saving Bats and Great Fishing Along Spruce Creek

by Thomas Saunders

The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy has recently acquired a unique property in northern Huntingdon County that does two unusual things—provides public access for world-class trout fishing on Spruce Creek and helps save struggling bats with desperately needed habitat. In addition to the exceptional fishing, this 13-acre property includes a major limestone cave network that may provide …

Saving Bats and Great Fishing Along Spruce Creek Read More »

Ageless Wisdom: Patricia Wilde, 90 Read More »

Ageless Wisdom: Patricia Wilde, 90

by John Beale

In part four of this video series, Patricia Wilde, age 90, talks about how she entered the world of ballet and her experiences with the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. I was born in the countryside outside of Ottawa, Canada and there were five of us in the family. The first part of the family were all …

Sports

Know when to hold ’em: Le’Veon Bell stares down the Steelers

by Matthew John Milligan

In poker, a player holding cards that he or she knows cannot be beaten is deemed to have “the nuts.” It’s the best possible position—without question, you cannot lose. You can, however, not win—an opponent may be holding equivalent cards to yours. Both the Steelers’ front office and their star running back Le’Veon Bell find …

Know when to hold ’em: Le’Veon Bell stares down the Steelers Read More »

The Red-Tape Fed

The Red-Tape Fed Read More »

The long and deep recession of 1930–33 finally ended in March of 1933. Once it ended, the Fed, believing that the economy could now—and should now—fend for itself, backed off. The result was one of the most powerful economic expansions in U.S. history, an expansion that lasted three decades. The short and shallow recession of …

Nature

The Mysteries of Feral Bees

by Daryln Brewer Hoffstot

To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee, One clover, and a bee, And revery, The revery alone will do, If bees are few. —Emily Dickinson I am a failed beekeeper. I had two hives. One died the first year and the other lasted about five, from which I got beautiful honey, …

The Mysteries of Feral Bees Read More »

Ageless Wisdom: Carol Brown, 85 Read More »

Ageless Wisdom: Carol Brown, 85

by John Beale

In part three of this video series, Carol Brown, age 85, shares thoughts on choosing a profession, living a satisfying life and building the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. The advice that I give my four grandchildren is spend your life on a profession that you really love, something that you genuinely enjoy. And if it’s something …

John Robinson Block, Newsman Read More »

John Robinson Block, Newsman

by Jeff Sewald

My twin brother, Allan Block, and I are the third generation in a family business that’s more than 100 years old. My grandfather, Paul Block, was an immigrant from East Prussia, and grew up, through his teens, in Elmira, New York. From age 10, he worked for a newspaper and learned how to sell advertising. …

Business

The Working Life

by Madison Nicole Snyder

Work is a fact of life for nearly 1.2 million southwestern Pennsylvanians. Some love what they do; others, not so much. Either way, work consumes a healthy share of their time and energy. Their weeks are structured around it. It’s what puts money in their pockets. What do Pittsburghers think about their jobs? Pittsburgh Quarterly’s …

The Working Life Read More »

Regional News

Unemployment Down, Workforce Shrinks

by Julia Fraser

The temperature may be up, but the unemployment rate in the Pittsburgh region keeps dropping, closing the gap separating it from national rate, which it has long hovered above. Year-over-year, the unemployment rate in the seven-county Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area fell .9 percentage points, from 4.9 percent in July 2017 to 4.0 in July 2018. …

Unemployment Down, Workforce Shrinks Read More »

Events

Twilight Picnic For The Parks Raises $334,000

Twilight Picnic For The Parks Raises $334,000 Read More »

Twilight Picnic For The Parks, the signature event of the Allegheny County Parks Foundation, celebrated a final blast of summer under a nearly full moon at Hartwood Acres Park Saturday evening. Blue skies greeted more than 400 guests on the lawn of the Hartwood Acres Mansion, who enjoyed a delicious dinner by the big Burrito …

The Fed’s Act of Cowardice