Best of the 'Burgh

Let's get this over with. Voting for Pittsburgh Magazine's annual Best of the 'Burgh is underway through April 20th. I'm honored to be nominated in the Local Writer category. Thanks to everyone for submitting my name as a nominee and thanks if you vote for me or for one of the other finalists in this category.

As many of you know, I live in Northern Virginia. While I was born and raised in Pittsburgh, I am not likely considered a "local" writer if Pittsburgh Magazine has a specific definition of local. I mean, I'm local to Pittsburgh compared to the Artemus II astronauts circling the moon but that probably doesn't count. With that written, many of my posts are Pittsburgh related or have Pittsburgh references. Not including this post, I have written 13 separate posts in 2026. Of course I'd like to write more, but that's a different topic for a different day. 11 of the 13 posts include some type of mention of Pittsburgh. The other two are about my youngest son participating in a spelling bee and about my passing the Brimley / Cocoon line. (For the spelling bee post, I included a story about how I participated in a spelling bee when I was in third grade. Although I didn't actually name the school or my teacher, that spelling bee occurred in Pittsburgh.) I think a spelling bee and reaching a certain age milestone are universal for residents of Pittsburgh and beyond.

If Pittsburgh Magazine and the Best of the 'Burgh voters want someone who lives in Western Pennsylvania, I understand. If they want someone to write only about local topics, I understand that too, though I believe that the great Hal B. Klein is the only nominee that meets this criteria. If it helps my candidacy as a local writer, I can write about very specific local topics such as why it's "sus" (as the kids say) that the longtime Woodland Hills High School Band Director and Director of the Spring Musical retired just a few weeks before opening night of Young Frankenstein at the auditorium named in his honor. Or I can write about two of my kids being in the background of a story filmed by WTAE last week. Is that local enough? Look, I haven't lived in Western PA for many years but Pittsburgh and the region will always be part of me.