I was tenth in a family of 12 children. My mother was a secretary and seamstress. My father was a bricklayer who was in the ...

We tend to view “bohemia” through a hagiographic lens, but its inception, as depicted by the French writer Henri Murger in a series of vignettes entitled Scenes of Bohemian Life (1851), was hardly ...

We read Stuart Sheppard’s recent piece for Pittsburgh Quarterly, “Is it Time to Stop Wearing Our Art on Our Sleeves?” with interest, and a fair amount of disagreement. Centering on Kara Walker’s ...

Everyone is born with a gift from God. Some people discover their gift, and use it to a positive end. Some discover their gift, but squander it. And others, for one reason or another, never discover ...

Editor’s Note: We’ve asked the Presidents of this region’s colleges and universities to respond in 250 words or less to the following question:Given that attracting young people is critically ...

It’s a hell of a thing to know your birth coincides with a line of demarcation in your hometown. On one side is prosperity. On the other, ruin. I was born in Youngstown in 1977. At the time, it was an ...

I was born in 1953 in Philadelphia and grew up in New Jersey and Virginia. By the eighth grade, I had attended six public schools before being enrolled at a private day school in the ninth grade. My ...

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 ...

Often when I walk through a gallery of contemporary art, I can hear a murmuring between the works that echoes journalist Herbert Morrison’s voice describing the crash of the Hindenburg in 1937: “Oh, ...

I do not recommend birding while driving. Looking up into the sky to determine whether the soaring shape high above is an eagle or just a turkey vulture is generally unsafe. True, I have never veered ...

Editor’s Note: On Saturday, July 26th, George Greer passed away at the age of 92. A native of Sharon, Pa., he became a longtime mainly behind-the-scenes leader in Pittsburgh and successful advocate ...

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 ...