About Me

Welcome. What we're trying to do here is pretty simple. First and foremost -- oh, hell, exclusively -- we hope, though trial and error, to be a resource to our community.

With any luck we will achieve this by writing about local issues that escape the eye of traditional media, of which we were once a part at both daily and alternative weekly newspapers as well as the odd magazine or two. The Nation, Rolling Stone and the New York Times are not among these publications. And with even more luck, we will achieve this goal with a bit of humor, panache if you prefer, style and, when the occasion calls for it, gravitas. We hope that last thing is rarely required.

Your help, however, is absolutely necessary. So, let us know what's going on in your neighborhood and around town. Thank you.

The Prime Movers of Pittsburgh Dish are:

Colleen Van Tassell. A native of Beacon, N.Y., Colleen's work has graced the pages of the Naugatuck (Conn.) Daily News, the New Haven (Conn.) Advocate and Greenwich (Conn.) Magazine. She has won numerous writing awards and, even better, one of her stories became a question on a Trivial Pursuit card.

Joe Miksch. Joe grew up in Beaver, PA, and has served the readership of the Oil City Derrick, the Beaver County Times, the New Haven (Conn.) Register, the Fairfield County (Conn.) Weekly and Greenwich, New Canaan/Darien and Westport magazines. He and Colleen are married. To each other.