Ray Werner

Oct 1, 2024 | pittsburghquarterly.com | Mark Schwartz |Doug Heuck |Samuel Hazo |Ray Werner

Having moved across the state from Pittsburgh in 1986, I now wonder what prompts me to read each edition of the Pittsburgh Quarterly from cover to cover. Sure, I subscribe to other magazines. The New Yorker is often hit or miss. My location  notwithstanding, I can’t relate to “The Main Line Times.”  Reading “Philadelphia Magazine’  is akin to my attending a glitzy cocktail party that I was not  invited to.  So what is my attraction to Pittsburgh Quarterly?

Jan 8, 2024 | pittsburghquarterly.com | Tracy Certo |Douglas Heuck |Ray Werner |Julia Fraser

written by tracy certoGrisell Espinoza was in limbo in 2014, wondering whether to stay in Pittsburgh or return to her native Venezuela where political turmoil was getting worse. Her only friend in town, a fellow Venezuelan, helped her get work at a restaurant until she could find a job in her profession as a civil engineer. But as supportive as her friend was, she still warned her: “This is a country that teaches you to cry.”Grisell, 32 at the time, was not one to cry — or so she thought.

Nov 22, 2023 | pittsburghquarterly.com | Ray Werner |Jeff Sewald |Douglas Heuck |Tracy Certo

It was December 9,1979. The White House was decorated for Christmas, with its majestic, towering Christmas Tree, all ready for the annual lighting that day. What a great welcoming sight. How could this be happening to us? We were there to film First Lady Rosalynn Carter. She had agreed to do some public service commercials for us and help raise awareness and funds for the Cambodian hunger crisis.  It was one of the worst hunger crises the world had ever witnessed.

Nov 22, 2023 | jewishchronicle.timesofisrael.com | Ray Werner

Certain shirts you wear for certain occasions. After the Tree of Life tragedy, as you know, the worst antisemitic attack in America’s history, I bought this long-sleeved Stronger than Hate pullover in the gift shop at Rodef Shalom. A lot of us started wearing them. I bought a few more at Yinzer’s in The Strip for our kids and grandchildren — to give support, in a small way, to our neighboring Jewish community.