Laurels & lances: Filming, closing, giving and picking
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Laurel: To not giving up. Aspinwall’s Philip Beard proves the old saying about good things coming to those who wait. Filming on a movie version of his 2004 novel “Dear Zoe” just wrapped last week after shooting around O’Hara, Squirrel Hill and Braddock.
It may have taken 15 years to get from page to camera, but the journey to publication was harder. Beard was rejected 30 times and had taken steps to self-publish when it was finally accepted by Penguin Books, thanks to a good word from a respected local bookseller, the late John Towle.
Lance: To unfortunate financial circumstances. The Pittsburgh Center for Arts and Media announced drastic cuts on Monday: the closing of the Regent Square Theater, the end of programming at the Harris Theater and complete withdrawl from the Marshall Mansion, its longtime base in Pittsburgh’s East End. There’s not one single culprit to blame; the costs of operating such enterprises are not easily undertaken.
But something doesn’t have to be someone’s fault to be regrettable. Let us hope the area arts community can find a way revive the mission of this venerable institution.
Laurel: To a new opportunity. Every child should have the chance for the best possible education. That doesn’t always happen. But a new scholarship will give one exceptional student the opportunity for a full scholarship to the Kiski School, an all-boys boarding high school in Loyalhanna Township with a day-student tuition of $28,500 per year.
The opportunity is made possible by a $1.15 million endowment from the Donald and Donna Mosites Family Foundation.
Lance: To the luck of the draw. Our leaders are not supposed to have won a lottery to represent us, but if there aren’t enough people involved in the process, that can be what happens.
In Westmoreland County, 10 local races ended in ties this year. A tie is not a failure of the process. A tie can happen no matter how many people vote. But a random number draw breaking a tie because three people each received only two write-in votes for one council seat? That’s an abrogation of civic responsibility.