PCN host brings 'PA Books' tour to Allegheny County

A fixture of Pennsylvania nonprofit television will bring his “PA Books” tour to Allegheny County in October before retiring in March 2020.

Brian Lockman, president and CEO of Pennsylvania Cable Network, will share favorite books and stories from his time as host of the television network’s weekly “PA Books” program during nine events happening around the county.

The TV show features a one-hour talk with an author of a book about Pennsylvania. Lockman said the show, which reaches millions of viewers, has featured the likes of John Updike, David McCullough, Tony Danza, Arlen Specter and Jerry Sandusky.

“I’ll have a handout of book recommendations and talk about those books and other things,” said Lockman of the tour.

Some of the topics found in those books include a famous baseball player who died while going over the Niagara Falls, organized crime, Andrew Carnegie, an architect with Pennsylvania roots who designed the Brooklyn Bridge and biographies of people like Dwight D. Eisenhower — who only owned one home, which was located in Adams County.

Lockman will give the talks at the following libraries.

• Northern Tier Library, 4015 Dickey Road, Gibsonia: 6:30 p.m., Oct. 21.

• Whitehall Public Library, 100 Borough Park Drive, Pittsburgh: 1 p.m., Oct. 22.

• Bridgeville Public Library, 505 McMillen Street, Bridgeville: 6 p.m., Oct. 22.

• Robinson Township Library, 1000 Church Hill Road, Pittsburgh: 1 p.m., Oct. 23.

• Sewickley Public Library, 500 Thorn Street, Sewickley: 6 p.m., Oct. 23.

• Green Tree Rotary Club, 500 Mansfield Ave., Pittsburgh (Double Tree by Hilton Hotel): 12 p.m., Oct. 24.

• Shaler North Hills Library, 1822 Mt. Royal Blvd., Glenshaw: 3 p.m., Oct. 24.

• Upper St. Clair Township Library, 1820 McLaughlin Run Road, Upper St. Clair: 7 p.m., Oct. 24.

• Monroeville Public Library, 4000 Gateway Campus Blvd., Monroeville: 1 p.m., Oct. 25.

Lockman has served as PCN’s president and CEO since 1999. Before that, he was the vice president and chief operating officer. During his tenure, he hosted more than 850 episodes of the popular show, a weekly program that features authors of newly published books unique to Pennsylvania.

Before working at PCN, Lockman was one of the original four employees of C-SPAN. He was there for more than 15 years, pioneering television coverage of the Iowa presidential precinct caucuses, producing C-SPAN’s coverage of the Democratic and Republican national conventions, and covering the 1991 military coup in the Soviet Union.

Lockman announced his March 31, 2020, retirement in September. He said PCN expects to name his replacement in about a month.