This Father’s Day let dad brush up on his Pittsburgh sports history with The Slide: Leyland, Bonds, and the Star-Crossed Pittsburgh Pirates by father-son writing duo Richard and Stephen Peterson and Chuck Noll: His Life’s Work by Michael MacCambridge. The Petersons trace Pirates baseball history from the 1970s to today, including the twenty-year bump along the road. MacCambridge gives life to the man who brought the Pittsburgh Steelers to the forefront of the National Football League, but removed himself from the spotlight. This is the first comprehensive biography of Chuck Noll.  With both books, you get a newfound understanding of the…

In a comprehensive guide, Butterflies of Pennsylvania: a field guide by James L. Monroe and David M. Wright, the butterflies that traverse the state are described in stunning detail, with over 900 color photos to complement them.  Here is a selection of ten out of the one hundred and eighty-six species that make up Pennsylvania’s unique butterfly population. Zebra Swallowtail So aptly named for the mammal that it resembles, male Zebra Swallowtails puddle, or rest in sandy or gravely areas to absorb salts and amino acids, which aid in their reproduction. Diana Fritillary The Diana Fritillary is incredibly rare, and…

Event dates and times:  Wednesday, Oct. 26, 4-6 p.m. University of Dayton Bookstore Marianist Hall 300 College Park Dayton, OH  45469 Free and Open to the Public – Friday October 28, 6 p.m. Barnes & Noble-South Hills 301 South Hills Village Pittsburgh, PA 15241 Free and Open to the Public – Saturday October 29, 2 p.m. Penguin Bookshop 417 Beaver St. Sewickley, PA 15143 Free and Open to the Public – BOOK LAUNCH The Life and Legacy of Chuck Noll with Pittsburgh Steelers Greats Joe Greene, Rocky Bleier, and Tunch Ilkin  Sunday October 30, 1 p.m. Heinz History Center 1212…

University of Pittsburgh Presents the Drue Heinz Literature Prize Reading Thursday, Oct. 6, 7 p.m. O’Hara Student Center 4024 O’Hara St. Pittsburgh, PA  15213 Free, open to the public Followed by book signing Featuring Melissa Yancy Author of Dog Years Winner of the 2016 Drue Heinz Literature Prize Richard Russo Judge Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author of Everybody’s Fool Dog Years Melissa Yancy “Yancy breaks through her characters’ surfaces of isolation and pretense to explore the uncharted yet universal depths of human emotion. Opening with the title story, a vignette about a couple, both geneticists, grappling with their son’s muscular dystrophy in…

Chuck Noll: A Man for All Seasons In a conversation with Pittsburgh Magazine’s Mike Prisuta, MacCambridge provides a glimpse of how this long-awaited biography came to be. Book Excerpt: Head of the Class Noll’s affinity to educate — ‘Play the way you’ve been coached’ — leads to a super start. Immaculate Misconception Biographer Michael MacCambridge reveals Noll to be a thinker, a private family man, a connoisseur and a consummate leader — as four Super Bowl wins attest. View the FULL PDF.