The Great Satchmo!

Join us on Tuesday, February 3 at noon for a visit from jazz legend Louis Armstrong as portrayed by Pittsburgh actor Greg Kenney. The program includes performances of some of Mr. Armstrong’s best remembered songs.

Just Announced: January 26th at 7 pm

STEELER NATION

Join us for a special evening edition of Lunch With Books on Monday, January 26th at 7 pm featuring Pittsburgh sportswriter Jim Wexell, author of Steeler Nation: A Pittsburgh Team, An American Phenomenon.

On September 17, 2007, Wexell embarked on a road trip to chronicle Steeler Nation.

The book is now available today at all major bookstores, Steelers merchandising stores, Amazon.com, and PittsburghSportsPublishing.com.

In his review, the Post Gazette's Ed Bouchette praised Steeler Nation, calling it Wexell's best book.

Wexell tells the tale of a six-week football road trip that swung south from Pittsburgh through Atlanta and Mobile, west through New Orleans, Phoenix and Los Angeles, north to Seattle, and then back east through Yellowstone Park, Denver, St. Louis and Cincinnati.

The trip covered nearly 10,000 miles as Wexell talked to Steelers fans, players, ex-players, as well as their family, friends and rivals, while the Steelers played their way to a division championship. The author found fans in the most remote outposts of the country and he walked in the footsteps of the current Pittsburgh Steelers.

The lives of 19 current Steelers are examined, including James Harrison, Heath Miller, Willie Parker, Lawrence Timmons, Hines Ward, Ike Taylor, Casey Hampton, Troy Polamalu, Brett Keisel, Aaron Smith, and Ben Roethlisberger, and the result is plenty of fresh information about the group that made up the core of the 2005 championship team.

Along with pre-game tailgates and post-game interviews, included in Wexell’s trip are visits with the greatest Steelers bars and fans in the country, and interviews with former Steelers greats such as Greg Lloyd, who discusses his past, present and future with typical Lloyd passion.

Wexell spent the first two weeks of the trip with friend and RV owner Jan “Pappy” Jones. The two rode in a 35-foot motor home with Wexell’s car in tow. Jones dumped the load in Tombstone, Arizona, but Wexell and his car made it home with all but a muffler and common sense intact. The trip continued into the northeast corner of the country to complete the season, the Steelers’ landmark 75th in the NFL.

Wexell hosts a radio talk show on Fox Sports Radio 970 in Pittsburgh and has covered the Steelers since 1995 for numerous area newspapers, Steelers Digest, Pro Football Weekly, and SteelCityInsider.com.

JANUARY 13: WALKING WOODSDALE, PART 1

Next week on Tuesday, January 13, 2009, Jeanne Finstein & Judi Hendrickson, the authors of Walking Pleasant Valley, will discuss Walking Woodsdale, part 1, an overview of their continuing research on the history of the Woodsdale-Edgwood Historic District.