Pittsburgh Born, Pittsburgh Bred: 500 of the More Famous People Who Have Called Pittsburgh Home
This book is interesting enough to keep you entertained for hours. Every story is fascinating, even those of smaller-scale stars. You may end up beaming with joy to know that you attended Dan Rooney s alma mater, or grew up in the same neighborhood where congressman Ron Paul was raised. Despite the grand name-dropping, this book proudly puts Pittsburgh on the modest, yet ambitious pedestal it was always meant to rest on. Modesty aside, each person has something in his or her life that makes him or her interesting, but of course, being related to Pittsburgh, how could they not? --excerpt from The New Pittsburgh Courier, 8/28/08Numerical breakdown of those included in Pittsburgh Born, Pittsburgh Bred:  100: actors and performers  80-plus: musicians  70-plus: athletes  60-plus: writers  60-plus: leaders and pioneers from the 18th and 19th century  40-plus: scientists and innovators --excerpt from the Tribune Review, 5/2/08The book reflects two things about Pittsburghers: One, There is a foundation of hard work, so many of these people came from nothing and worked very hard for what they did, said co-author Abby Mendelson, 60, of Squirrel Hill. Two, our guys establish excellence by wanting to do more than enough. By and by, they established a level of excellence for a town this size unmatched in America.... The book doesn't just include kings of industry and creators of all things mechanical. It doesn't showcase engineers, lawyers, doctors or other professionals, but more of the artistic type -- the Andy Warhol-esque (yes, a Pittsburgher) characters that may even have been behind the scenes. --excerpt from the Fox Chapel Herald, 5/8/08