A Night of Reflection

More than 200 guests gathered last month at the Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel for the 15th Annual Saint Alexis Catholic School Gala, benefiting the privately funded Catholic elementary school in Wexford. This year’s theme, “A Night of Reflection,” resonated with guests as they reminisced about the school’s 55-year history and looked to the future.

Value Investing: Putting Time on Your Side

“All things excellent are as difficult as they are rare.” Throughout my 17 years watching markets and investing on behalf of high-net-worth individuals, families and organizations in the Pittsburgh area, I’ve never found this quote from legendary investor Benjamin Graham to be more appropriate. Investing is more than the cat and mouse game portrayed by …

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Investigating a Suicide. Me?

As the sergeant drank cheap whiskey one night at the NCO Club on Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey, his wife overdosed on pills. Because suicide is a homicide, the Office of Special Investigations on base, meaning my two colleagues and me, got the case. The base security police had roped off their trailer, and …

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Poetry

I too dislike it the mystified truisms the dusty puzzle-prunes the theatrical exaggerations: “the brutal crescendo of woodworms”– yet I think of O’Hara’s delight in the endless pleasures of quotidian life and Duhamel throwing a dozen balls in the air and juggling them all Frank said only a few poems are as good as the …

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Quantum Strikes Again with “Collaborators”

Just as Colette could say, “There are no ordinary cats,” one could say that there are no ordinary productions from Quantum Theatre. “Collaborators,” the 2011 play by John Hodge (who also wrote the adaptation of the film, “Trainspotting”) is violently alive in a way so few new plays are these days, merging comedy and pathos …

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Elsie Hillman, Political and Civic Leader

My husband, Henry Lea Hillman, is seven years older than me. He is the son, of course, of Pittsburgh steel mogul John H. Hillman, Jr., an industrialist who built Pittsburgh Coke & Chemical. Anyway, Henry was a friend of my older sister, and I knew his younger sister, so we all became friends. When I …

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Capital Preservation Paul, Part III

Last week we asked Mr. Market to establish the playing field for our investment contest. This week we’ll check in to see how our contestants are faring. Year 1 of the contest, we will recall, was a so-so, boring year in the markets. Mr. Market’s portfolio—that is, a portfolio with exactly the same asset allocation …

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Warhol Brings Báez’s Powerful “Bloodlines” to Pittsburgh

The Andy Warhol Museum’s first two exhibitions of the year are a great pairing. Jessica Beck’s excellent My Perfect Body brought together work from Warhol’s entire career that focused on body issues, from the nose picking and acne of his youth to the scars from being shot in 1968 to images of bodybuilders and Christ. …

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A Doctor’s Face on a Billboard

After retiring from medicine, I drove across most of the southern and western United States to explore national parks and visit relatives. Every day, I would drive by billboards showing faces of physicians. I’m sure most of you have seen this type of marketing in the Pittsburgh region if not on billboards, then certainly in …

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Capital Preservation Paul, Part II

On the last day of March, we launched our own, far more interesting version of March Madness, namely, an investment contest. Our contest features the Investing Final Four, that is, the four main kinds of investors I’ve encountered in a long and checkered career in the financial advisory business. But instead of competing for something …

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Renowned Poet and Artist Comes to the Maridon

On Saturday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. the Maridon Museum will hold a gala opening of its exhibit and art sale “A Cosmic Contemporary Collaboration.” The exhibit, which runs April 8 through June 3, will feature paintings and a performance by internationally recognized poet Huang Xiang, one of China’s greatest 20th century, post-cultural revolution …

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The Newspapers & Rico the Baker

Pittsburgh’s old morning newspaper was the small dog in town—feistier, funkier, more colorful, more daring and, compared to the larger afternoon paper, far more fun. Its “personnel department” was Agnes who worked in an alcove full of office machines from the Roosevelt years. The Teddy Roosevelt years. Ray took over. He was bright, funny, had …

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Pittsburgh Today and Tomorrow 2017

The 2017 Pittsburgh Today and Tomorrow report, produced by Pittsburgh Today, analyzes recent data to assess the Pittsburgh region’s standing compared with 15 other regions in key economic and quality of life measures. Also included are numerous in-depth reports focusing on the most important issues facing Greater Pittsburgh. To view a PDF version of Pittsburgh …

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PICT Classic Theatre Triumphs with Fresh, Exhilarating Treatment of Oedipus Rex

Although thirteen ancient Greek poets wrote Oedipus tragedies, only Sophocles’ play, “Oedipus Rex,” has survived. The Roman philosopher Seneca wrote a version, as did Julius Caesar. So did the 17th century poet John Dryden, as well as the 18th century philosopher Voltaire. It has been a foundational story of Western consciousness since Homer referenced it …

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Capital Preservation Paul

I’ve been in the business of advising wealthy families for 40 years. (Actually, it’s been longer than that, but I’ve reached the age where everything gets rounded down.) Over all those years, almost every family I’ve worked with has followed an investment strategy focused on the preservation of their capital, and it’s not hard to …

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Antarctica, Wonder that Inspires

There are times in your life that mark changes in your composition. Our trip to Antarctica was one of those times. It’s a continent without native people, but where wildlife thrives in an unpredictable environment. It’s a world without infrastructure. The scale is otherworldly and the landscape staggeringly, breathlessly beautiful. It is a landscape difficult …

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Silicon Valley—and the Rest of Us

Last week I was in northern California’s Bay Area for a few days and, as I prefer to do when traveling even to familiar places, I make sure to read and watch the local media rather than “the usual” array of nationally available sources. I caught a TV report on a meeting of Silicon Valley …

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Loose Change, Part X

“Without courage all other virtues are useless” – Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire We are talking about climate change, this being the tenth and (finally!) last post in my long series on “changes” that might be considered by the new Trump Administration. In my last post, I alluded to scientific misgivings about the seminal “Seven Nations” …

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Shake Your Booties Down Bourbon Street

Silver platters overflowing with bejeweled masks and long strands of vibrantly colored beads ensured guests of The Children’s Home & Lemieux Family Center wouldn’t be empty handed for their Mardi Gras-themed Shake Your Booties party. At least, for those who didn’t come fully prepared. “I found this upstairs in our house and thought, ‘If I …

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Green Gala Honors Sy Holzer

“He’s what makes Pittsburgh go,” said Art Rooney II. “He’s been one of the spokes of Pittsburgh for the past 30 years or so, and we’re excited to give him his dues tonight.” Accolades abounded for PNC Executive Vice President and Special Advisor to the Chairman Sy Holzer, honored with the 2017 Chairman’s Award for …

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Gentlemen’s Night Out

Gentlemen’s Night Out was hosted on Friday, February 17 at Heinz Field Champions Club. The black-tie event was presented by Mascaro Construction Company, and chaired by the company’s Executive VP Michael Mascaro to benefit the National Aviary. Nearly 200 guests arrived to the Champions Club where they were greeted by various National Aviary birds! Guests …

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Kicking Off a Collaboration

More than 400 guests filled the August Wilson Center Thursday for the Private Performance and Premiere Party kicking off Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and Dance Theatre of Harlem’s two-week collaboration celebrating the diversity of talent and styles in American ballet. Presented by BNY Mellon, the collaboration spans nine joint performances and 27 educational programs throughout the …

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