Samuel Peters is an African-American writer whose work explores culture, history and regional life.
Steel City Sparks
Every July Fourth, as the last light fades behind the hills that cup this city on three sides, something old and immigrant-born rises above the rivers. The barges are already in position a mile below the Point, loaded and wired and waiting. At 9:35 p.m., the first shell breaks open above the Ohio, and for …