Caustic, vulgar, outrageous, funny, charming, honest, insightful, successful, tragic, Sharon Needles could be described by any of those terms–and she could also be called a Pittsburgher. You may not be aware of it, but Pittsburgh is home to one of the most famous drag queens in the world: Sharon Needles. For a person who admits that she doesn’t feel welcome most anywhere, Needles is comfortable
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An Unlikely Mayor Jewish, a septuagenarian, and a woman without a college education, Sophie Masloff was a mayor unlike any other Pittsburgh had seen before. While she may have been unlike any other mayor, she was quintessentially Pittsburgh. Her life embodied many of the things that define Pittsburgh and those who live here, making her one of the city’s most colorful, most memorable, and one
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When Susan Gregg Koger was in high school, she had no clue that her penchant for vintage clothing would lead to founding one of the nation’s fastest growing retailers. The Florida native came to Pittsburgh in 2002 along with her then boyfriend Eric Koger (now her husband) to attend Carnegie Mellon University. The Floridians’ need for warm winter clothing led them to thrift stores, where
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An adage advises to “bloom where you are planted.” In the case of Randy Gilson, he not only bloomed but also painted, created, and transformed a drab, depressing neighborhood on Pittsburgh’s North Side into a whimsical wonderland known as Randyland. A little over 30 years ago, Gilson, 59, rented an apartment in the Mexican War Streets on the North Side. Gilson, who is a waiter,
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When Diana Napper makes a promise, she keeps it. In 1990, her best friend Carol Jo Weiss Friedman lost her battle with breast cancer. Before Carol Jo succumbed to the disease, Diana promised her that she would pursue a lifelong dream of designing jewelry and opening a jewelry store, selling her designs that would fund a hospice in Carol Jo’s name. Diana honored that promise
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In 1994, Diana Napper founded The Glimmer of Hope, a nonprofit dedicated to finding a cure for breast cancer. She began this foundation to honor a promise she made to her friend Carol Jo Weiss Friedman before she lost her battle with breast cancer. Initially, Diana had designed a small piece of jewelry, a Swarovksi teardrop pin capped with a pearl to symbolize hope over
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If Pittsburgh were to have a royal family, it would have to be the Hillmans. But unlike Queen Elizabeth, who is a benign figurehead presiding over ribbon-cuttings, the late Elsie Hillman donned a headband instead of a crown and went into the trenches to make a difference in the world. A Sense of Service is Instilled in Hillman Elsie Hilliard Hillman spent decades getting her
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Today, many people are aware of the scourge of human trafficking, but in 2003, that wasn’t the case. That year, Mary C. Burke, Ph.D., professor of Psychology at Carlow University, watched a report of an undercover journalist as he was approached by children offering to have sex with him. This report shined a light on the despicable, shadowy world of human trafficking. The Program Director
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Dr. Patricia George, a pulmonary hypertension specialist at UPMC, knows how little people know about this devastating illness. To raise awareness this year, Dr. George and Team PHenomenal Hope competed in The Pioneer, a seven-day race through New Zealand’s Southern Alps. What is Pulmonary Hypertension? PH is a disease of the lungs and often goes unrecognized or misdiagnosed. It affects millions of people of all
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In the last century, Pittsburgh spawned two Pulitzer-prize winning playwrights: George S. Kaufmann and August Wilson. Kaufmann’s greatest success came in the first half of the 1900s with the prize-winning musical Of Thee I Sing in 1931 and the drama You Can’t Take it With You in 1936, while Wilson won two Pulitzers during the last half of the century with Fences in 1987 and
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