Articles Archive - Page 86 of 156 - Pittsburgh Quarterly

When she was just 23, poet Muriel Rukeyser drove from her home in New York City to the hollers of West Virginia, fueled by a desire to investigate and document the Hawk’s Nest Tunnel mining disaster. By the time she arrived in 1936, many of the men who had dug the tunnel were dead. More …

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Creative Capital

Why Were Pittsburgh’s Scots-Irish So Successful?

by Greg Curtis

If Malcolm Gladwell is right that the cultural legacy of the Scots-Irish explains the poor outcomes experienced by people in southeastern Kentucky, how do we explain the exceptional success of these same people in Pittsburgh? One answer to this conundrum is this one: “Cultural legacy explanations are garbage.” That’s the Politically Correct answer, but it’s …

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PQ Poem

26 + 6 = 1

by Ann Curran

The first time I went up north to Belfast, a helicopter hovered overhead. Very young and very nervous soldiers with guns too large for their skinny bodies carried their fears across the darkened streets. In the Europa lobby, the guide bragged, “This is the most bombed hotel in the world.” We stayed in a lovely …

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Creative Capital

The Culture of the Scots-Irish

by Greg Curtis

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” –Peter Drucker (supposedly) Whether or not Drucker ever said that, every corporate executive knows it’s true. No matter how brilliant a strategy might be, if the corporate culture is toxic, the strategy will fall as flat as soggy Cheerios. On the other hand, if the corporate culture is healthy, a …

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Business

Pittsburgh Business Show Ready to Launch Second Year

by Douglas Heuck

Last year, Linda Jo Thornberg created the Pittsburgh Business Show with notable success, attracting 157 exhibiting business and 2,800 attendees. Prior to this year’s show, April 25 and 26 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, we asked her how she got the show started and what to expect in its second iteration. Q. How …

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Obituaries

Bognar, Franklin, Freeman, Ross, Goldstein, McElhattan, Malone

by PQ Staff

Nadine Bognar, 87: The co-owner of Bognar and Company, a supplier of coke and coal for the steel industry, she became chairman and CEO in 1992 after her husband’s death. While her business acumen contributed to the company’s continued success, it was her philanthropic efforts and support of a wide range of arts organizations that …

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American Spirit

The Gowns She’s Known

by Kate Benz, photography by John Altdorfer

There’s less than a month left to liquidate, oh geez, like, 1,000 gowns. Rows and rows of them. Satin and lace all hanging pretty in clear garment bags with a hand-written tag attached: 60% off! [ngg src=”galleries” ids=”238″ display=”basic_thumbnail” thumbnail_crop=”0″] “You can get a twelve hundred dollar gown for five hundred dollars,” says Mary. “That’s …

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History

Buying a Company Town

by Andrew Moore

Joseph Meyer lives in the former manager’s home of an abandoned company town, where there is no running water, no cell service, and until recently, there was not a single resident. On this cold Saturday in December, 63-year-old Meyer splits wood to heat his three-story home. The scene would be a common one in rural …

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Creative Capital

Leaving Kentucky for Two Very Different Reasons

by Greg Curtis

You can take the boy out of Kentucky, but you can’t take Kentucky out of the boy. – Mamaw Vance Last week I outlined the more-than-slightly-unnerving parallels between J. D. Vance’s life and my own, as outlined in his remarkable book, “Hillbilly Elegy.” This week we’ll balance the scales by noting some of the profound differences. The …

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Books

Looking for Belonging Underscores Kothari’s “I Brake for Moose and Other Stories”

by Fred Shaw

With hate crimes up nationally according to the FBI, those of Indian descent haven’t been spared. Locally, a 2016 beating incident at a South Hills Red Robin was deemed “ethnic intimidation,” while the 2017 murder of Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla in Olathe, Kansas drew international attention. These are but two prominent examples of the recent …

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Business

A Lesson in Growth from Austin, Texas  

by Paul Scripko

With the U.S. Census Bureau reporting continuing populations losses for metropolitan Pittsburgh, the region is one of only a few “large” U.S. metros reporting losses, putting us in the company of Youngstown, Ohio and Altoona/Johnstown, Pa. This is not a good story. Companies often choose where to locate or expand in places people want to be. …

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Health

Hard to Swallow

by Kelly Casey

It started with a cough and the need to clear her throat whenever she ate. Eventually, swallowing became more difficult—and even dangerous—for Patricia Grimm, 63, of the North Side. “I’d be at Red Lobster eating a salad or in the car eating a hamburger and I’d start choking,” she says. ”When you can’t breathe because …

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Sports

Our Changing Pastime

by John W. Miller

On a snowy night, I’m tossing winter batting practice in a gym to nine-year-old boys who play for Steel City Select, an elite Pittsburgh travel baseball club. We’re getting ready for the 2018 season, another chapter in the history of a game invented by Americans almost two centuries ago, and which has deep roots in …

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Creative Capital

The Weird Parallels Between the Hillbilly Elegy Author and Me

by Greg Curtis

I just completed a series of posts on Thomas Piketty’s “Capital in the Twenty-First Century,” a book that experienced an astonishing publications history—despite being 700 pages long and a hard slog—because it caught the exact tenor of the times. A very different and more accessible book that enjoyed similar popularity, and for the same reason, is …

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Profiles

John Fetterman, Public Servant

by Jeff Sewald

I was born in Reading, Pa., on Aug. 15, 1969. My parents, Karl and Susan Fetterman, were both only 19 years old at the time, so I was an “unplanned event.” But my mom and dad did get married and, as I matured and came to understand the circumstances surrounding my birth, the knowledge helped …

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Food & Wine

World-Class Sparkling Pinot Noir from Pennsylvania? You Bet!

by Dave DeSimone

Discovering delicious surprises always provides a large part of the fun in drinking and sharing wines. Surprises keep you honest as a wine drinker while refreshing the senses and expanding the palate. Such is the case with the N.V. South Shore Wine Company, Sparkling Pinot Noir, Pennsylvania ($19.95; available online and at the winery). from …

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Regional News

Population Slips Again

by Julia Fraser

The Pittsburgh region’s population continued to slide in 2017, falling to 2,333,367 people, according to recent population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. It marked the fifth consecutive year population has declined in the seven-county Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area. “The Pittsburgh region is a place that has suffered from a lot of population loss for …

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Events

Pittsburgh Opera Fashion Event Captures “Game of Thrones”

by PQ Staff

A Song of Thrones captured the drama of the immensely popular medieval fantasy epic “Game of Thrones” while spotlighting costuming and music from Pittsburgh Opera, as well as high-end fashions by designer Diana Misetic of Shadyside fashion studio & boutique Little Black Dress. [ngg src=”galleries” ids=”237″ display=”basic_thumbnail” thumbnail_crop=”0″] Misetic custom-made cutting edge couture specifically for …

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Regional News

Tipping the Scales

by Julia Fraser

Southwestern Pennsylvania has the highest percentage of “healthy weight” adults among the Pittsburgh Today benchmark regions, according to 2016 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, the most recent available. But here’s the catch: Fewer than 1 in 3 southwestern Pennsylvanians are a healthy weight and more than …

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Creative Capital

How Private Capital Made America the Greatest Society

by Greg Curtis

Last week we discussed Fundamental Law of Private Capital #1—that private capital is the secret weapon that allows some economies to out-compete others. This week we’ll turn to Fundamental Laws #2 and #3. Fundamental Law #2: Private capital is the progenitor of all other kinds of capital. From the beginning of human civilization, virtually all …

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Events

Fourth Annual Great Futures Gala Celebrates Outstanding Youth

by PQ Staff

Over 250 guests recognized youth at Boys & Girls Clubs of Western PA’s Fourth Annual Great Futures Gala at the Sheraton Station Square on Wednesday, March 14. [ngg src=”galleries” ids=”236″ display=”basic_thumbnail” thumbnail_crop=”0″] Hosted by KDKA meteorologist Ron Smiley, the evening centered around exemplary youth who represent each of the eight Club branches in the Greater …

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Homes

A Foundation for the Future

by Marylynn Uricchio

The Benter Foundation has increasingly made a mark in Pittsburgh since it was founded 11 years ago by philanthropist Bill Benter. Dedicated to supporting “the leaders, organizations and ideas that help communities and individuals thrive,” the foundation’s primary focus has been local, with an emphasis on the arts and education. [ngg src=”galleries” ids=”137″ display=”basic_thumbnail” thumbnail_crop=”0″] …

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