Mike Pilewski writes about life, politics and culture in the United States
“I wonder where we go when we die,” Calvin, the cartoon character, says to his friend Hobbes. Hobbes guesses: “Pittsburgh?” Calvin asks, “You mean if we’re good or if we’re bad?” The emptiness of that medium-sized city during the G-20 conference last week made me think I’d missed the Rapture or maybe the swine flu. Imagine everyone gone, except for … >>
Halloween has come early to Pittsburgh this year. The decorations are already up on the neighbors’ houses: jack o’ lanterns, dried cornstalks and scarecrows are scaring away evil spirits five and a half weeks before October 31. The Halloween colors, orange and black, have also appeared a lot downtown. They’re used on signs that announce road construction, detours and inconveniences … >>
This summer seems like it’s been the summer of death. The Grim Reaper has claimed one of Charlie’s Angels, a 50-year-old kid who’d held a baby out a window, a defense secretary who’d been responsible for the Vietnam War, and an Irish-American author who, in old age, was still complaining about his awful childhood. Now the most trusted man in … >>
Years ago, in the days before MP3 players, an American friend of mine moved to Germany. His stay was to be temporary, so he’d left all his records, cassettes and CDs behind. The move had also cost more than he’d expected, so he decided not to buy a radio. A month in his new apartment was more than he could … >>
Poland, 1990: Ten years after demonstrations by the Solidarity trade union, political reform had arrived. Poland was finally a democracy. But my friend from Gdańsk wasn’t happy — and it was my fault. “You had the chance,” Tadeusz said. “Solidarity was gaining power. The food shortages frightened Prime Minister Jaruzelski. Public pressure would have forced him to resign. But instead, … >>
I remember the swine flu. It came around in 1976, when I was a kid. We were all going to die. The parallels to the 1918 influenza, which killed between 20 and 100 million people, did not go unnoticed. Soldiers fell ill at a military base. The virus attacked young people. The symptoms were particularly severe. If the flu spread, … >>
Last week, some of us in the print media observed a moment of silence for the death of a relative. After 146 years in business, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer printed its last newspaper on March 17. Unable to make a profit, the Hearst Corporation, which owns the P-I, has turned the paper into an online-only edition. You’d think that enough readers … >>