Mike Pilewski writes about life, politics and culture in the United States
My grandmother was the healthiest person alive. This came, she said, from living in the countryside, breathing clean air, and cooking her own food, which was fresh from nearby farms or her own garden. She kept noise and stress out of her life. Her career was her home, and she was the queen of her castle — an image reinforced … >>
One of the most famous men in Pennsylvania died on Sunday. Joe Paterno, 85, had been the head coach of the Pennsylvania State University football team for the last 46 years. He was one of the most successful college football coaches ever. To sports fans, he was like one of the gods on Mount Olympus. There is even a statue … >>
When people ask me where I come from, I tell them Pittsburgh. However, this is only partly true. I grew up in what we in Pennsylvania call a borough — a self-governing community in the suburbs without an actual center to it. The street my parents live on was built in 1950. What was there before it? “Woods” is what … >>
Each month in Spotlight magazine, I write about the anniversary of a historical event, such as the birth or death of an important person. Lately, though, I’ve been thinking about an anniversary that came and went this year. The important person was my grandfather. Next Wednesday, two days after Halloween, is All Souls’ Day. The occasion is hardly celebrated now, … >>
My eight-year-old cousin Trevor wrote to me recently from Pleasant Gap, Pennsylvania, to ask for my help with a school project. Dear Michael, We are working on a Flat Stanley project. Stanley is a character in our book, Flat Stanley. He was flattened when a big bulletin board fell on him while he was in bed sleeping. In the book, … >>
One of my favorite Bushisms is one that George W. said when visiting Nashville in 2002. “There’s an old saying in Tennessee,” he began. “I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee [as well] — that says, ‘Fool me once: shame on you. Fool me [twice]: you can’t get fooled again.” Bush had forgotten the second part of the saying, … >>
It’s sobering to realize that eight years have passed since New York and Washington, DC, were attacked on September 11, 2001. Something that happened that long ago, and is already the subject of numerous documentaries, is history. The more time passes, the more the official version of events is accepted, and the less plausible any alternative version becomes. This fact … >>
I was in a foreign city, watching TV with some friends I’d made there. We’d gone through the channels and had stopped at one that was showing a movie. After a few minutes, a girl in the group said, “This must be a French film. All they’re doing is talking and eating.” She was right. “If it were an American … >>
One of Aesop’s many fables is the story of two snobs, the town mouse and the country mouse. The town mouse goes to visit his cousin, who lives in the country. The town mouse doesn’t like the simple food he’s offered, so he invites the country mouse to visit him in the city. There they eat sweet things, but the … >>
This past Monday saw the return of a yearly event in my home state of Pennsylvania: Groundhog Day. Groundhogs are large rodents that live underground. The saying is that if one of these animals sees his shadow on this day, six more weeks of winter will follow. If he doesn’t, then spring will come early. The tradition was brought over … >>