Essays
1091 results
Page 67
Poets' Night at the London Pub: A 1980 memoir
Hooked on poetry: A Philadelphia memoir (c.1980)
The poets who once showed up for Monday night readings at the London Pub seemed an odd assortment of professionals and neophytes, from all racial and ethnic backgrounds. But we shared one thing in common: an urge to feel the musicality of the language.
Essays
4 minute read
A writer contemplates posterity
After I'm gone, or: Texting for posterity
As a science fiction author who specializes in writing about the future, I sometimes wonder: What about my future? What have I contributed to human progress? The answers have a way of popping up where you least expect— in South American dictatorships, for example.
Essays
5 minute read
My mother's cherished possessions
The thrift shop cometh, or: Disposing of Mama's treasures
I'm the last survivor in my family, and so I've become my family's museum— the repository of all our lost dreams and desires. What am I supposed to do with all these crystal, porcelain and lace symbols that once defined the finer things in life?
Essays
3 minute read
A noir memoir: Philadelphia before the "60s
Jazz and cocktails: The hip life in Philadelphia, c. 1963
The early ‘60s, before the Cultural Revolution, was a time when a hipster could read books and be a tough guy too. We suburban children of the Greatest Generation yearned to rediscover what was left of our underclass roots. My search focused on the dives and jazz joints of Center City Philadelphia.
Essays
9 minute read
Life lessons from professional soccer
Today Chester, tomorrow the world, or: The globalization of soccer
Do sports really provide useful life lessons? In the age of globalization, the answer is yes— if the sport is professional soccer.
Essays
4 minute read
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The little bookshop that could
My own personal librarian
In the age of chain mega-bookstores that entice customers with cappuccino bars and special events, one independent Center City shop has survived the old-fashioned way— with personal attention to its books and its patrons.
Essays
4 minute read
Memoirs of a not-quite Web pioneer
Move over, Bill Gates, or: Memoirs of an Internet pioneer (who chickened out)
Before Facebook, before Twitter, even before Netscape, I conceived Internet brainstorms that could have made me gazillions. So where did I go wrong?
Essays
7 minute read
Pittsburgh's culture quest
Pittsburgh's culture quandary, or: Where have you gone, Andy Warhol?
The Mellons and the steel mills are gone, but Pittsburgh today boasts first-class museums, music, theaters and universities. The trouble is, they're all in the wrong part of town.
Essays
5 minute read
To a brother who died of AIDS
Marty, I hardly knew you
My brother Marty was gay, but not happy. As adults we weren't especially close. It wasn't until he died of AIDS 20 years ago that I really came to know and appreciate him.
Essays
4 minute read
Advice to the football players (and fans too)
Oh Joe, our help in ages past
For good people (and even good coaches) to do bad things, you need to believe that some idea is more important than people. In short, you need religion. Sometimes that religion can be football.
Essays
1 minute read