Luna by Brian Butko

Posted by on Nov 3, 2019 in | Comments Off on Luna by Brian Butko Luna Pittsburgh’s Original Lost Kennywood by Brian Butko Senator John Heinz History Center, 140 pp., paper $12.95 It’s not often that a history book begins with a graphic description of a lion attack. But in Brian Butko’s latest, Luna, it is the perfect way to set the stage for this enjoyable look at the growth of the entertainment industry in Pittsburgh at the turn of the 20th century. The...
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Other Recent Releases

Posted by on Mar 13, 2017 in | Comments Off on Other Recent Releases A Life Well Played: My Stories by Arnold Palmer St. Martin’s Press, 258 pp., cloth $22.99 The last book by the legendary golf pro from Latrobe, Westmoreland County, is a selection of his thoughts, anecdotes and memories about golf, life and business. In the final word, he humbly reveals that he prefers not to be thought of as The King but – like his “hard-nosed golf course...
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Luna Park, Scranton

Posted by on Apr 12, 2016 in | Comments Off on Luna Park, Scranton Luna Park appears to be a magical place in this postcard. In the brief decade it existed from 1906 to 1916 in Scranton, Lackawanna County, it offered entry into another world for the admission price of only 10 cents. Located across a footbridge east of Nay Aug Park along the Roaring Brook, Luna Park was the creation of Pittsburgh entrepreneur Frederick Ingersoll (1876–1927). Ingersoll opened his...
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Kennywood in the Space Age: How a Traditional Amusement Park Raced into the Future

Posted by on May 11, 2015 in | Comments Off on Kennywood in the Space Age: How a Traditional Amusement Park Raced into the Future Every year, at any amusement park, the first thaw of spring brings excitement for the new season. As the days got longer in 1990 Kennywood Park began tearing off the bright blue front of its Racer roller coaster. The goal was to rebuild it in the style of the 1927 original, with lattice work around an archway fronting a curved roof that extended back over the loading platform. For three decades...
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