Paul Kengor stories, Page 6

“Did you see what they did to the Cathedral of Learning?” So asked one of my students, Aaron. I’ve been in Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning countless times — studying, writing, even a touch of romance. My wife and I smile at the memory of my getting on the elevator one...

I’m experiencing from some leftist supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement something I’ve gone through with LGBTQ advocates, namely a refusal to permit disagreement, even when offering support for other elements (arguably the most important elements) of their agenda. Sure, that doesn’t include everyone in the movements, but it...

We’ve all witnessed covid-19’s terrible impact on the economy, especially restaurants, bars, and, well, you name it. One thing uniquely hit, literally silenced, are small-town movie theaters that have long struggled to stay in business. People in my community are feeling this. The Guthrie Theatre, which has operated in downtown...

I was really surprised that Joe Biden picked Kamala Harris as his running mate. I thought he would choose Susan Rice, a safe pick, genuinely moderate, measured, considerable experience in foreign policy, not a lightning rod. Harris is divisive and elicits anger. She hurts Biden where he needs help the...

“What cancel culture is about is not criticism,” former New York Times columnist Bari Weiss told HBO’s Bill Maher. “It is about making a person radioactive. It is about taking away their job.” Quoting The Atlantic’s Jonathan Rauch, Weiss called it “social murder.” If you haven’t heard of “cancel culture,”...

We’ve been in the grip of a pandemic that has prompted many people to view our health care professionals as heroes. Unfortunately, we’ve also been in the grip of another sickness since the George Floyd tragedy that has prompted too many people to view our police officers as villains. “As...

Last weekend I overheard two recent grads (both musicians) discussing America’s greatest composers. The usual names were raised: Copland, Gershwin, Bernstein, Sousa … Foster. “Who?” said one. “Stephen Foster,” replied the other. Only one knew who Foster was, and neither knew he was from Pittsburgh. Both, ironically, recently spent a...

Looking back at my recent columns, I was taken aback at how many were about the pandemic that has controlled our lives since March. I’m not alone. This has been an ongoing focus and agony, as has the question for everyone: When will we get back to normal? That question...

Life in nature, said Thomas Hobbes, is nasty, brutish and short. So is life for many infected by covid-19, the death toll from which is now 114,000. And yet nature can offer refuge, if people seek its best use. Pennsylvania has eased up on social-distancing restrictions. For many people, the...

I never miss the annual Memorial Day parade in Mercer. How could I? It’s old school, pure Americana: high-school bands, snow-cone stands, church groups, VFW, rotary club and flags, flags, flags. This year, however, the streets were eerily empty. They were lined with flags, but no people. No one marched....

As anxious Pennsylvanians push the commonwealth of Pennsylvania to open up and return to normal, I wonder about the new normal for state employees who collect tolls for the Pennsylvania Turnpike. It could be a new normal they will not be welcoming. The thought hit me while hopping on the...

Covid-19 is the real deal — a virulent killer. Unfortunately, that’s not the view of many of my conservative friends, including those protesting in Harrisburg and with megaphones on talk radio and Fox News. I’m not going to call them out by name. It’s not necessary. Everyone is hearing such...

“Polio Is Conquered.” That was the jubilant headline atop The Pittsburgh Press on April 12, 1955 — 65 years ago. The headline was repeated in newspapers worldwide. And where had it happened? In Pittsburgh. The man who did it? Dr. Jonas Salk. Polio was one of humanity’s most malicious scourges....

“Well, you know I’m graduating this semester. This may be the last time I see you.” So said one of my students somberly at the end of class last week. Typically, that’s a goodbye I hear in mid-May, not mid-March. It came in response to a campuswide email announcing that...

Exhibit 1: Elizabeth Sovel Flinn. Born in 1891, she died about this time 100 years ago, age 29, a victim of the catastrophic influenza epidemic of 1919-20, also known as the Spanish flu. She was my grandmother’s mother (my dad’s side). My grandmother wasn’t even 3 years old at the...

“I think … Mike Bloomberg and anybody else has every right in the world to run for president of the United States,” says Bernie Sanders. “But I got a real problem with multibillionaires literally buying elections.” It frosts Bernie Sanders to share the debate stage with Manhattan Mike Bloomberg, New...

Once again we embrace that annual cultural ritual known as Valentine’s Day. In fact, you’ve had plenty of warning, dating back to, oh, shortly after Christmas, when Santa displays at stores were replaced with heart-shaped candy boxes. Of course, it’s not just stores. Obnoxious TV ads tantalize guys with images...

What’s up with Andy Warhol lately? Last week The New York Times reported on the photography of the renowned Pittsburgh-born artist. This week, Crisis Magazine, a Catholic publication, published “The Warhol Effect,” focused on his unappreciated faith. And last month, just before Christmas, John Miller of National Review did a...

I was sitting in Primanti’s at Market Square with my 12-year-old son after escaping “The Nutcracker” at the Benedum. Almost as eye-opening as the Arabian Dance (I said almost) was a political ad on the large TV screen. Rudely interrupting the Pittsburgh ambience was a New Yorker, Michael Bloomberg, who...

Christmas 1979 marked a sobering time for America. Here in the Pittsburgh region, fortunately, we were enjoying a unique reign as City of Champions, with the Pirates winning the World Series and the Steelers in the process of a second back-to-back Super Bowl coup. These were badly needed respites for...

“I’m telling you!” yelled Myron Cope in the voice of, well, only Myron Cope. “Something bad always happens in Cleveland!” I was sitting in my car in Shadyside, waiting to pick up my wife from her aerobics class, listening to the legendary Myron on WTAE-AM. The subject was the Steelers...

Thanksgiving Day 100 years ago was truly a blessed occasion. President Woodrow Wilson’s Thanksgiving proclamation was significant because America and the world had enjoyed their first full year of peace since 1914. World War I had been a particularly vicious war, described by philosopher Sidney Hook as no less than...

On Tuesday I picked up my kids from church youth group. “Dad, we had an amazing experience,” said my oldest daughter. “We went to a nursing home. We met two people who were almost 100 years old. They lived through World War II!” It was a nice experience for them....

“Pray for us, I will call you later.” We received that text message from our 16-year-old daughter at 10:16 a.m. on Saturday morning, Oct. 27, 2018, as my wife and I drove toward the Strip District. My wife called immediately. “Are you OK? Were you in an accident?” In a...

My family just visited Chocolate World at Hershey Park — the “sweetest place on earth.” We hit it every two or three years when traveling through. For those unfamiliar, Chocolate World is the heart of the Hershey experience. It’s a giant candyland, a chocolate paradise. The primary attraction is a...