Books category, Page 2

Pittsburgh had the first indoor rink in North America with artificial ice. The Schenley Park Casino was located at the entrance to Schenley Park when it opened in 1895. Built at a cost of $400,000, it had 18-foot windows, 1,500 incandescent lights, two tiers of seating, luxury boxes, a café,...

Michael J. Urick doesn’t consider himself a Swiftie. While he does appreciate some of Taylor Swift’s hit tunes, the Saint Vincent College faculty member has an even greater appreciation for the leadership skills the singer-songwriter has demonstrated on her way to becoming one of the most well-known figures in global...

WASHINGTON — John Feinstein, one of the country’s foremost sports writers and the author of numerous bestselling books, including the groundbreaking “A Season on the Brink” about college basketball coach Bob Knight, died unexpectedly Thursday. Feinstein was 69. He died of natural causes at his brother’s home in McLean, Virginia,...

Five years ago, as the covid-19 pandemic gripped the region, TribLive reporter JoAnne Klimovich Harrop quarantined in a nursing home with her mother as society began to shut down. Harrop left her husband, her home and her career to stay in the former Charles Morris Nursing and Rehabilitation Center with...

Pittsburgh author Eliza Smith Brown will mark Women’s History Month in March with a personal tale of two females who transformed the local political landscape. Brown will lead a discussion of formidable sisters Lucy and Eliza Kennedy — her grandmother and great aunt, respectively — who came of age in...

William Trent is not necessarily a name that would come up in the typical American history class. But Butler native, historian and author Jason Cherry knows better. He knows Trent was considered one of the most influential backcountry merchants of the 18th century and was among the men who cast...

McKeesport native Helen Richey became the first woman to fly a commercial airliner to deliver mail and transport passengers. She was part of what was known as the “air-minded movement.” Richey and Amelia Earhart, the first female pilot to fly solo non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean, appeared in an advertisement...

A Bridgeville author’s new book strives to have people step into the world of genetic experimentation, government conspiracies and an unusual antagonist. Mark Berton, 48, released “Aroughcoune” on Feb. 19. The story revolves around a giant, military-bred, genetically modified raccoon that escapes from a secret lab and wanders around Western...

NEW YORK — If you love movies or comics, you’ve likely followed the adventures of Spider-Man, Iron Man and other superheroes. A new line of books will let you explore the back stories of their creation. On Wednesday, Bloomsbury and Marvel announced a multi-year, multi-volume licensing agreement for “Marvel Age...

An upcoming edition of “Hansel and Gretel” combines the dark and singular talents of two literary giants who apparently never met: Stephen King and the late Maurice Sendak. HarperCollins Publishers announced Thursday that the King-Sendak re-imagining of the famed Brothers Grimm tale about two lost children in a frightening forest...

MAYVILLE, N.Y. — Salman Rushdie described in graphic detail Tuesday the frenzied moments in 2022 when a masked man rushed at him on a stage in western New York and repeatedly slashed him with a knife, leaving him with terrible injuries and fearful he would die. Rushdie took the stand...

NEW YORK — Tom Robbins, the novelist and prankster- philosopher who charmed and addled millions of readers with such screwball adventures as “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues” and “Jitterbug Perfume,” has died. He was 92. The New York Times and NPR are among the outlets that reported Robbins’ death Sunday. The...

MADISON, Wis. — A woman from New Zealand has filed three civil lawsuits against best-selling British author Neil Gaiman and his wife, accusing Gaiman of repeatedly sexually assaulting her while she was working as the couple’s babysitter and nanny. Scarlett Pavlovich filed the lawsuits in federal court in Wisconsin, Massachusetts...

Marie Benedict found her calling writing novels that unearth the seldom-known stories of history’s amazing women. The Sewickley resident’s latest work — “The Queens of Crime” — will be released on Feb. 11, and she’s kicking off a more-than-20-city book tour on Feb. 8 with a launch event at The...

NEW YORK — Nora Roberts is so prolific she had to take up a pen name so her publisher could release more books by her each year. “I’m a fast writer,” Roberts told The Associated Press in a rare interview. She typically releases four books a year, and has for...

When Jay Mitlo’s editors tried to bill his new book as a Christian memoir, the Penn Hills pastor bristled. Yes, the book recounts his son Trey’s journey with terminal cancer, and yes, faith is woven throughout. But above all, “Stand: Emotionally and Practically Surviving When a Child Gets a Life-Threatening...

LOS ANGELES — Dark Horse Comics has taken a stance against author Neil Gaiman, who faces multiple allegations of sexual assault. The publishing company over the weekend announced it will no longer publish the “American Gods” and “Good Omens” author’s work. As part of taking “seriously the allegations against” Gaiman,...

NEW YORK — For author Percival Everett, libraries have long been a source of knowledge and discovery and pleasure, even of the forbidden kind. “I remember making friends at age 13 with the librarian at the University of South Carolina, and she used to let me go through the stacks...

Tom Rooney remembers working at Bard’s Dairyland on Pittsburgh’s North Side in the late 1960s, with the Penguins game on in the background. “Ed Conway was the first Penguins announcer, and I’d be at Bard’s, serving customers and trying to figure out what was happening in the game at the...

For “Fourth Wing” lovers, Tuesday was a big day. Basgiath War College is back in session, but not for Violet Sorrengail and Xaden Riorson. Rebecca Yarros’ third installment, “Onyx Storm,” of the viral Empyrean romantasy series was released, and fans can’t contain their excitement. Readers took to the social media...

Martin Luther King III is exploring new ways to understand legacy and success. “Life should be a legacy of love,” the oldest son of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King told TribLive. “My father talked about agape love … that love that is totally unselfish and...

Jennifer Briggs and her husband struggled through their early years as parents. Their daughter, Sarah, was diagnosed with autism at 4 years old. She was nonverbal. It was a struggle to ensure she ate enough to stay healthy. “We’d tried lots of therapies, and nothing was working,” said Briggs, 47,...

MELBOURNE, Australia — Best-selling British author Neil Gaiman released a statement Wednesday denying he had ever engaged in non-consensual sex after a magazine this week published allegations from several women, accusing him of sexual assault. The 64-year-old author of “The Sandman” comic book series and novel “American Gods” was responding...

NEW YORK — Oprah Winfrey is beginning 2025 with an old favorite. She has selected Eckhart Tolle’s “A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life Purpose” for her book club, marking the first time she has chosen a publication twice. Winfrey, who launched her club in 1996, also picked “A New...