Hits and Misses
Hits and Misses
MISS: October is here, and that means it’s time for drivers to be alert. This month, along with November and December, are the peak months for motorists to collide with animals, particularly deer. And of all 50 states, Pennsylvania has the highest number of claims filed annually for animal collisions, according to a just-released report from State Farm Insurance. All in all, you have 1-in-61 odds of hitting an animal when you are traveling on the roads of Pennsylvania, according to the report. It’s better than the 1-in-40 odds you have in West Virginia, but a far cry from the 1-in-11 million odds you have of dying in a plane crash. The best advice at this time of year is be on the lookout when driving, especially in rural areas and between dusk and dawn, don’t speed, don’t be distracted by your phone, be alert for herds of deer, and don’t swerve if you can’t avoid striking a deer or some other animal. Being watchful and taking it easy on the gas pedal might make all the difference between getting somewhere uneventfully and having to call your insurance agent.
MISS: In 1966, John Lennon proclaimed in an interview with a British newspaper that the Beatles were “bigger than Jesus now.” It set off a furor in the Bible Belt, prompting bonfires of Beatles records and paraphernalia. When you look at that footage now, it’s impossible not to realize that those enraged former fans were destroying items that would later become pricey collectibles. That came to mind the other day when a man in Texas purchased a guitar signed by Taylor Swift in an auction for $4,000, and promptly destroyed it to protest Swift’s endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. A spokesman for the auction said the buyer was simply “making a lighthearted statement showing disapproval of people in the entertainment industry trying to influence politics.” Fair enough, but smashing apart a musical instrument after paying a considerable chunk of change for it doesn’t seem all that “lighthearted.” It also could prove to be pretty foolhardy – if Swift has staying power, that guitar could have been worth a heck of a lot more than $4,000 decades from now. The buyer’s children and grandchildren could one day be cursing him over this.
HIT: During his lifetime, Charles “Teenie” Harris was a workaday photographer for the Pittsburgh Courier, the region’s Black newspaper. He captured everyday images of Black life and also snapped memorable images of some of the 20th century’s greatest luminaries when they visited Pittsburgh, including Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Jackie Robinson and many others. The work of Harris is now part of the Carnegie Museum of Art’s collection, and historians value it for the way it chronicles Black life and culture at a time when many metropolitan newspapers were ignoring both. For much of his professional life, Harris worked out of his house in Homewood and developed his photos in a darkroom in the basement. Last week, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission unveiled a state historical marker outside the house, and relatives and local leaders were on hand to pay tribute. According to Pittsburgh radio station WESA-FM, Matthew Falcone of the group Preservation Pittsburgh said Harris was “without question one of the greatest historians our city has ever seen.” Journalists – and, indeed, everyone – can be glad that Harris has been honored in this way.