The conversations must go on. Thank You. To the Erie community and beyond, the JES is grateful for your support in attending the more than 100 digital programs we’ve hosted in 2020 and for reading the more than 100 publications we’ve produced. A sincere thank you to the great work of our presenters and authors who made those programs and publications possible which are available for on-demand streaming, archived, and available for free at JESErie.org.

JEFFERSON DIGITAL PROGRAMMING Dr. Aaron Kerr: Necessary Interruptions: Encounters in the Convergence of Ecological and Public Health * Dr. Andre Perry - Author of Know you’re your Price, on His Latest Book, Racism in America, and the Black Lives Matter Movement * Dr. Andrew Roth: Years of Horror: 1968 and 2020; 1968: The Far Side of the Moon and the Birth of Culture Wars * Audrey Henson - Interview with Founder of College to Congress, Audrey Henson * Dr. Avi Loeb: Outer Space, Earth, and COVID-19 * Dr. Baher Ghosheh - Israel-U.A.E.-Bahrain Accord: One More Step for Peace in the Middle East? * Afghanistan: When and How Will America’s Longest War End? * Bruce Katz and Ben Speggen: COVID-19 and Small Businesses * Dr. Camille Busette - Director of the Race, Prosperity, and Inclusion Initiative and Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution * Caitlin Welsh - COVID-19 and Food Security/Food Security during COVID-19: U.S. and Global Perspective * Rev. Charles Brock - Mystics for Skeptics * Dr. David Frew - How to Be Happy: The Modern Science of Life Satisfaction * On the Waterfront: Exploring Erie’s Wildlife, Ships, and History * Accidental Paradise: 13,000-Year History of Presque Isle * David Kozak - Road to the White House 2020: Examining Polls, Examining Victory, and the Electoral College * Deborah and James Fallows: A Conversation * Donna Cooper, Ira Goldstein, Jeffrey Beer, Brian J. Polito - PA School Funding: Barrier for Economic Growth / Community Revitalization In Erie County & Throughout PA * James McQuiston - Unlock the Mystery of Oak Island * Frank Garland - Baseball Past and Present: The Stories of Arky Vaughan and Willie Stargell and America’s Pastime amidst a Pandemic * Gannon University - The 2020 Elections: Where are We? Where are We Headed?/ George Deutsch - America’s Most Corrupt Presidential Election: 1876 * Contentious Elections I-V * Taps24: Notes of History and Erie County’s Oliver Norton/ President Lincoln and Chief Justice Taney * Rev. Jeffrey Brown - Race in America and Today’s Black Lives Matter Movement * Ira Goldstein, Mike Norton, Colin Weidig - Reverse Mortgages: What Seniors and Policy Makers Need to Know and How the COVID-19 Pandemic is Impacting the Housing Market * Jeff Sherry - Lincoln Assassination: An American Tragedy * Jonathan Burdick - Lake Erie: A Call to Action * What History Stands to Teach Us * John Austin - Paths to Renewed Prosperity for Great Lakes Communities * Johnny Johnsons - A Shared Heritage: People and Places of African American Heritage in Erie County * Dr. Judith Lynch - Leadership in Times of Crises: Learning from Erie’s Law and Battles * Erie County’s Responsibility for the Poor * Dr. Judith Lynch and Anita Rogowski - The Black Death and COVID-19 * Dr. Kenneth Louie - The Economic Impact of COVID-19 * Dr. Kenneth Louie - The Economic Impact of COVID-19 * Kristen Zeiber - Reconnecting the Bayfront * Larry Flatley - COVID-19 Pandemic is a Teachable Moment on Native American History * Flashpoint! How Colonial Western Pennsylvania Ignited a Global War/ Peaceable Kingdom to Slaughterhouse: Colonial PA and Native Americans * LECOM Health - COVID-19 and your Mental Health/Follow Up on Coronavirus—COVID-19 Community Conversation * Dr. Lena Suzhko-Harned - The Ukraine-Russia Conflict in Times of COVID-19 * Mark Squeglia - Working Effectively with and Managing Remote Workers/Normandy Invasion * Matt Wiertel - Raimy Idea: The Urban Digital Divide Define * Noah Charles - Unexpected Connections: Statistical Physics, Physics and Philosophy, and Diversity and Equity in STEM Education * Michael Kraus and George Deutsch - Civil War on Film, Behind the Scenes of “Gettysburg”, and “Cold Mountain * PA Senate Debate - André Horton and Julie Slomski * Dr. Parris Baker - A Pain Filled, Polarized America: Reflections, Recommendations on Racism in U.S., Erie * From 1619 Virginia to 16503 Erie -- A Constitutional Path to Black Lives Matter * Paula Jensen and Mike Knutson - The Future of Rural America * Paul Gambill, Dr. Lena Surzhko-Harned, and Dr. Robert Speel - Pre-election Discussion: What are the Hidden issues in the 2020 Elections * Preston Love - A Conversation with Preston Love, Jr. * Richard Arthur - The Sedition Act of 1798: Source of Domestic Turmoil and Runaway Partisanship * Sabina Freeman - Erie County Women in Wartime * Sean Fedorko - Coworking: Communities of Professional and Personal interests * Steve Scully - A Look at 2020, from the Presidential Election to the COVID-19 Pandemic * Yvonne Caputo - Author of “Flying with Dad” * Penny Mechley-Porter - Meditation through Mindfulness Series (37 parts) * Dr. Andrew Roth - American Tapestry Lunchtime Series (6) * Dr. Judith Lynch - Elected Erie County Women Lunchtime Series (8)

JEFFERSON PUBLICATIONS Allan Swigonski – Jefferson Report: Erie May Lose Pro-Baseball *Dr. Andrew Roth - Book Notes Series (37) * Bruce Katz and Ben Speggen – Jefferson Report: Why Erie’s Downtown is a Proxy for the Nation: The Future of Main Street Businesses Amidst the COVID-19 Crisis * Rev. Charles Brock - Mystics for Skeptics Series (21); Foreign Policy (2); Laurence, Engels on Love and Justice * Dr. David Frew - On the Waterfront Series (32) * Dr. William Hunter and Dr. Parris Baker - Jefferson Essay: Martin Luther King, Jr.: A Man for All Time * JCLA 2019 – Project Report: Blue Economy in Erie County * Dr. Jackson Janes - Report from Europe: Impact and Reactions to COVID-19 * Jefferson Team - Essay: Erie & Crisis: Region Faces Unique Opportunity to Reimagine Itself * Dr. Judith Lynch - Erie History Series (9), Erie County Elected Women (8) * Kristen Zeiber - Charette Follow Up Report: Reconnecting Erie’s Bayfront; Jefferson Report: Erie, PA – Reconnecting the Bayfront * Larry Flatley - COVID-19 Pandemic is a Teachable Moment on Native American History * Dr. Parris Baker – Jefferson Report: A Pain Filled, Polarized America: Reflections, Recommendations on Racism in U.S., Erie * Patrick Cuneo - Erie Businesses and COVID-19; Washington’s Character, Action Bring Solstice in Modern- Day America; 1918 Flu Epidemic Struck Erie, Nation, World * Seth Trott – Jefferson Report: Down in the Dumps: An Inclusive Look at Glass Recycling in Erie County

To receive updates on new programs and publications in 2021 directly in your inbox, contact the JES team at 814.459.8000 to be added to our mailing list. And be sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and subscribe to our YouTube channel. CONTENTS From the Editors The only local voice for news, arts, and culture. DECEMBER 16, 2020 A Charlie Brown 2020 Editors-in-Chief s it just us or have the ’20s not seemed so fun this Brian Graham & Adam Welsh time around? Of course, we don’t have anyone on Managing Editor Nick Warren Erie at Large: Politics, Interrupted – 4 Istaff who can directly compare 2020 to 1920, but the mental stock images of flappers and speakeasies Copy Editor How Erie County went blue again, amidst the Matt Swanseger and jiving to big band jazz certainly stand in stark Contributing Editors tumultuous factors of 2020 contrast to the nightmare we’ve witnessed with our Ben Speggen own eyes this year. The conversations must go on. Jim Wertz Addressing Honorary Streets – 7 Where their major pandemic (1918 Spanish flu) was Contributors How renaming is one way to recognize special ending, ours (COVID-19) was just beginning. Liz Allen Thank You. To the Erie community and beyond, the JES is grateful for your support in attending the more than 100 Erie people Where their society grappled with the impact of John Bavaro Prohibition in the flu’s aftermath (by drinking any- digital programs we’ve hosted in 2020 and for reading the more than 100 publications we’ve produced. A sincere thank Charles Brown you to the great work of our presenters and authors who made those programs and publications possible which are Chloe Forbes What Will We Remember About 2020? – 9 way), our much different and plugged-in society con- Ally Kutz tinues to grapple (and gamble) with ongoing restric- available for on-demand streaming, archived, and available for free at JESErie.org. Christopher Lantinen Contemplating what will stay with us, what tions in COVID-19’s midst. Tommy Link Aaron Mook will fade away Brad Pattullo As we push 2020 back into its little JEFFERSON DIGITAL PROGRAMMING Erin Phillips 2020 Monolithic in Its Challenge – 12 Dr. Aaron Kerr: Necessary Interruptions: Encounters in the Convergence of Ecological and Public Health * Dr. Andre Perry - Author of Know you’re your Price, on Melissa Sullivan Shimek corner of space-time and look at it But Erie demonstrates resourcefulness, His Latest Book, Racism in America, and the Black Lives Matter Movement * Dr. Andrew Roth: Years of Horror: 1968 and 2020; 1968: The Far Side of the Moon and Forest Taylor more critically, perhaps its branches Bryan Toy resilience to carry on the Birth of Culture Wars * Audrey Henson - Interview with Founder of College to Congress, Audrey Henson * Dr. Avi Loeb: Outer Space, Earth, and COVID-19 * Dr. Hannah Wyman will not look so barren. We’ve learned Baher Ghosheh - Israel-U.A.E.-Bahrain Accord: One More Step for Peace in the Middle East? * Afghanistan: When and How Will America’s Longest War End? * Bruce Photographer The Unmistakable Anuszkiewicz – 14 a lot about ourselves and one another, Katz and Ben Speggen: COVID-19 and Small Businesses * Dr. Camille Busette - Director of the Race, Prosperity, and Inclusion Initiative and Senior Fellow at the Jessica Hunter how to adapt to circumstances, and Brookings Institution * Caitlin Welsh - COVID-19 and Food Security/Food Security during COVID-19: U.S. and Global Perspective * Rev. Charles Brock - Mystics for Intern Erie-born Op Art pioneer’s work spoke for Skeptics * Dr. David Frew - How to Be Happy: The Modern Science of Life Satisfaction * On the Waterfront: Exploring Erie’s Wildlife, Ships, and History * Accidental Simonique Dietz itself in some cases shine in spite of them. Paradise: 13,000-Year History of Presque Isle * David Kozak - Road to the White House 2020: Examining Polls, Examining Victory, and the Electoral College * Deborah Cover Design We may be sagging from their heavy and James Fallows: A Conversation * Donna Cooper, Ira Goldstein, Jeffrey Beer, Brian J. Polito - PA School Funding: Barrier for Economic Growth / Community Nick Warren The Top 5 Films in a Very Bizarre Movie Year – 16 burden now, but given the benefits of Revitalization In Erie County & Throughout PA * James McQuiston - Unlock the Mystery of Oak Island * Frank Garland - Baseball Past and Present: The Stories of Arky 1001 State St. Suite 1315 How we consumed film may have changed time and perspective, more nuance may Vaughan and Willie Stargell and America’s Pastime amidst a Pandemic * Gannon University - The 2020 Elections: Where are We? Where are We Headed?/ George Erie, Pa., 16501 forever begin to fill it out. Deutsch - America’s Most Corrupt Presidential Election: 1876 * Contentious Elections I-V * Taps24: Notes of History and Erie County’s Oliver Norton/ President [email protected] Lincoln and Chief Justice Taney * Rev. Jeffrey Brown - Race in America and Today’s Black Lives Matter Movement * Ira Goldstein, Mike Norton, Colin Weidig - Reverse Top TV Picks of 2020 – 19 Where they were uplifted by the granting of wom- Mortgages: What Seniors and Policy Makers Need to Know and How the COVID-19 Pandemic is Impacting the Housing Market * Jeff Sherry - Lincoln Assassination: The Erie Reader is published An American Tragedy * Jonathan Burdick - Lake Erie: A Call to Action * What History Stands to Teach Us * John Austin - Paths to Renewed Prosperity for Great Lakes every other week and Some of our favorite small screen offerings en’s suffrage through the Nineteenth Amendment, we’ve been dragged down by attempts at voter sup- Communities * Johnny Johnsons - A Shared Heritage: People and Places of African American Heritage in Erie County * Dr. Judith Lynch - Leadership in Times of distributed at over 350 high this year pression and misguided accusations of voter fraud. Crises: Learning from Erie’s Law and Battles * Erie County’s Responsibility for the Poor * Dr. Judith Lynch and Anita Rogowski - The Black Death and COVID-19 * Dr. foot-traffic locations in Pennsylvania from North Unless you count Tiger King, the 21st century ’20s Kenneth Louie - The Economic Impact of COVID-19 * Dr. Kenneth Louie - The Economic Impact of COVID-19 * Kristen Zeiber - Reconnecting the Bayfront * Larry Our Top Albums of 2020 – 20 East to Girard to Edinboro. In haven’t really had much of a chance to roar yet — Flatley - COVID-19 Pandemic is a Teachable Moment on Native American History * Flashpoint! How Colonial Western Pennsylvania Ignited a Global War/ Peaceable addition to appearing in print, Music that provided relief when it was sorely although it’s offered plenty of occasion to scream. Kingdom to Slaughterhouse: Colonial PA and Native Americans * LECOM Health - COVID-19 and your Mental Health/Follow Up on Coronavirus—COVID-19 Erie Reader adds new content needed Nonetheless no year, even 2020, is all good or all bad. daily at ErieReader.com as well Community Conversation * Dr. Lena Suzhko-Harned - The Ukraine-Russia Conflict in Times of COVID-19 * Mark Squeglia - Working Effectively with and Managing Sure, there were tragedies — societal and personal. as social media sites. All rights Remote Workers/Normandy Invasion * Matt Wiertel - Raimy Idea: The Urban Digital Divide Define * Noah Charles - Unexpected Connections: Statistical Physics, Erie’s Best Local Albums of 2020 – 21 But interspersed within those tragedies were tri- Physics and Philosophy, and Diversity and Equity in STEM Education * Michael Kraus and George Deutsch - Civil War on Film, Behind the Scenes of “Gettysburg”, and reserved. All content © Flagship Multimedia, Inc, 1001 State Three full-length records from local artists umphs both collective (e.g., multiple highly effective “Cold Mountain * PA Senate Debate - André Horton and Julie Slomski * Dr. Parris Baker - A Pain Filled, Polarized America: Reflections, Recommendations on Racism St., Suite 1315, Erie, Pa, 16501. vaccines developed within a year) and individual — in U.S., Erie * From 1619 Virginia to 16503 Erie -- A Constitutional Path to Black Lives Matter * Paula Jensen and Mike Knutson - The Future of Rural America * Paul No part of this publication Artists Adapt Through Pandemic – 22 for some of us, perhaps just the privilege of waking Gambill, Dr. Lena Surzhko-Harned, and Dr. Robert Speel - Pre-election Discussion: What are the Hidden issues in the 2020 Elections * Preston Love - A Conversation may be reproduced without up to live and fight another day.It’s a Christmas Mir- with Preston Love, Jr. * Richard Arthur - The Sedition Act of 1798: Source of Domestic Turmoil and Runaway Partisanship * Sabina Freeman - Erie County Women permission. The opinions of our Local talents reveal how they stayed strong acle, Charlie Brown! in Wartime * Sean Fedorko - Coworking: Communities of Professional and Personal interests * Steve Scully - A Look at 2020, from the Presidential Election to the columnists and contributors and stayed creative As we push 2020 back into its little corner of space- COVID-19 Pandemic * Yvonne Caputo - Author of “Flying with Dad” * Penny Mechley-Porter - Meditation through Mindfulness Series (37 parts) * Dr. Andrew are their own and do not always time and look at it more critically, perhaps its branch- reflect that of the editorial Roth - American Tapestry Lunchtime Series (6) * Dr. Judith Lynch - Elected Erie County Women Lunchtime Series (8) Our Podcast Picks of the Year – 25 es will not look so barren. We’ve learned a lot about board or organization. Direct ourselves and one another, how to adapt to circum- sales inquiries to 814.314.9364. Five of our writers highlight their defining stances, and in some cases shine in spite of them. We JEFFERSON PUBLICATIONS For editorial inquiries, email audio offering for 2020 Allan Swigonski – Jefferson Report: Erie May Lose Pro-Baseball *Dr. Andrew Roth - Book Notes Series (37) * Bruce Katz and Ben Speggen – Jefferson Report: Why [email protected]. may be sagging from their heavy burden now, but giv- en the benefits of time and perspective, more nuance Erie’s Downtown is a Proxy for the Nation: The Future of Main Street Businesses Amidst the COVID-19 Crisis * Rev. Charles Brock - Mystics for Skeptics Series Top 5 Books of 2020 – 26 may begin to fill it out. The multiple Year in Review (21); Foreign Policy (2); Laurence, Engels on Love and Justice * Dr. David Frew - On the Waterfront Series (32) * Dr. William Hunter and Dr. Parris Baker - Jefferson retrospectives at the core of this issue address many Essay: Martin Luther King, Jr.: A Man for All Time * JCLA 2019 – Project Report: Blue Economy in Erie County * Dr. Jackson Janes - Report from Europe: Impact and No shortage of escapes in a year stuck at home events for which we cannot yet fully know the con- Reactions to COVID-19 * Jefferson Team - Essay: Erie & Crisis: Region Faces Unique Opportunity to Reimagine Itself * Dr. Judith Lynch - Erie History Series (9), sequences. * Kristen Zeiber - Charette Follow Up Report: Reconnecting Erie’s Bayfront; Jefferson Report: Erie, PA – Reconnecting the Bayfront Erie County Elected Women (8) The Legacy of Books Galore – 28 Until then, we have a Christmas and New Year’s to * Larry Flatley - COVID-19 Pandemic is a Teachable Moment on Native American History * Dr. Parris Baker – Jefferson Report: A Pain Filled, Polarized America: celebrate — albeit more quietly than most. To make Reflections, Recommendations on Racism in U.S., Erie * Patrick Cuneo - Erie Businesses and COVID-19; Washington’s Character, Action Bring Solstice in Modern- Pioneers and preservation on upper Peach up for that, we’ve collected a sleighful of the year’s Day America; 1918 Flu Epidemic Struck Erie, Nation, World * Seth Trott – Jefferson Report: Down in the Dumps: An Inclusive Look at Glass Recycling in Erie County Street best books, movies, music, and TV to help you and your immediate households bridge the gap between a Crossword Puzzle – 31 trying 2020 and, hopefully, a much, much better 2021. To receive updates on new programs and publications in 2021 directly in your inbox, contact the JES team at 814.459.8000 The latest stumper from David Levinson Wilk Happy holidays Reader readers, from us to you. to be added to our mailing list. And be sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and subscribe to December 16, 2020 ErieReader.com | Erie Reader | 3 our YouTube channel. LAST MINUTE GIFT SALE New Year, New You! DECEMBER 17, 18 & 19

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4 | Erie Reader | ErieReader.com December 16, 2020 NEWS & VIEWS Erie at Large: Politics, Interrupted How Erie County went blue again, amidst the tumultuous factors of 2020

President-Elect Joe Biden emerged from a crowded field to represent the Democrats delegates to award. in November’s general election. Although Ballots in Erie County included the the key battleground state of Pennsylvania, presidential contest — Biden, Sanders, including Erie County, tipped blue in the and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard were on the bal- presidential race, a true “blue wave” has not come to bear, as Republicans retain majority lot, although Sanders and Gabbard had control of the Pa. House and Senate. previously suspended their campaigns — and Pennsylvania row offices for erings of 50 or more people across the attorney general, auditor general, and United States, and the following day state treasurer, a representative in Con- the nation’s chief public health expert, gress, as well as State Senate and State Dr. Anthony Fauci, revised that rec- Representatives. ommendation to limit gatherings to 10 Outside of the presidential race, only people or fewer. the Democratic nomination for auditor The United States led the world in general and the Democratic nomina- active coronavirus cases by the end of tion for State Senate were contested March and electoral politics were all primary races in Erie County. Former but on hold. Pennsylvania Governor deputy mayor of Philadelphia, Nina Tom Wolf rescheduled the state’s pri- Ahmad, handily emerged from a pool mary election from April 28 to June 2. of six candidates in a statewide race GAGE SKIDMORE GAGE Coincidentally, March 13 was also to be the Democratic nominee for au- the day that Louisville, Kentucky po- ditor general, and locally Julie Slomski By: Jim Wertz South Carolina primary on Feb. 29. lice kicked in the apartment door of a defeated County Councilman Andre Between the South Carolina primary 26-year-old African American woman, Horton to challenge incumbent Repub- ven before the pandemic landed and the 15 primary contests that com- Breonna Taylor, while serving a “no- lican Dan Laughlin for the 49th District on American shores, 2020 was prised “Super Tuesday” on March 3, knock” search warrant. Police entered, State Senate seat. Epoised to be a strange political Buttigieg and Minnesota Senator Amy firing several shots and killing Taylor in Because Erie had voted for Donald year. Amid wildfires on the West Coast, Klobuchar dropped out of the race and the process. Trump in 2016 but had historically Black Lives Matter protests at home endorsed Biden. They were joined by Taylor’s death came just weeks after voted for Democrats in presidential and abroad, and the passage of two former Texas congressman and presi- three white men pursued and fatal- contests (with the exception of 1984), articles of impeachment by the House dential hopeful Beto O’Rourke, who ex- ly shot Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed the national and international press of Representatives against President ited the race in November 2019. Biden 25-year-old-black man, in Glynn Coun- looked to Erie County as a bellwether Trump, 29 Democrats lined up to com- won 10 primaries on March 3, which led ty, Georgia, and two months before the for Pennsylvania and the nation. pete for their party’s presidential nom- to an exodus of most remaining candi- murder of George Floyd by a Minneap- Press from as far away as Brussels ination. Some of them you wouldn’t dates, leaving only Biden and Sanders, olis police officer who pinned Floyd to and Japan, and major publications in- know had run and some you will likely who won the remaining five states on the ground with a knee on Floyd’s neck cluding The Guardian and Der Spiegel, never hear from again. Super Tuesday, as the lone contenders for eight minutes and 46 seconds as made their way to Northwestern Penn- Maryland congressman John Del- for the Democratic nomination. Floyd begged for his life. sylvania in an attempt to distill the po- aney and entrepreneur Andrew Yang Most of the primary contestants had These incidents reignited the Black litical landscape into a narrative that announced their candidacies in the endorsed Joe Biden ahead of Wiscon- Lives Matter movement that began in matched the importance placed on Erie second half of 2017, nearly two-and-a- sin’s April 7 primary. Sanders suspend- 2014 in response to the deaths of Afri- County when at the end of 2019 The Hill half years before the 2020 Iowa Cau- ed his campaign the next day, and on can Americans at the hands of police. named it one of the ten most important cus. However, by the time we rang April 13 he endorsed Biden as the Dem- Between the end of May and the end of counties in America to the outcome of in 2020, only 14 Democrats remained ocratic Party’s presumptive nominee to August, more than 10,600 protests were the 2020 presidential election. in the race, the Democratic National become the next President of the Unit- organized across the country, including In most cases, they found what they Committee had already held six pres- ed States. in Erie, making police reform and hu- were looking for. Whether it was on idential debates, and the money and man rights a central focus of 2020 cam- Main Street in Union City or in subur- popular support began to consolidate Politics, Interrupted paigns at all levels of government. ban Millcreek Township, enthusiasm behind Vice President Joe Biden and A national emergency was declared for this presidential election was ex- Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. on March 13 as the coronavirus raged “All Politics are Local” tremely high. Almost 138,000 people At the end of February — after Pete through centers of international travel Despite Pennsylvania’s importance voted in this election — nearly 20,000 Buttigieg had won the Iowa Caucus like California and New York. States be- in the presidential elections, its place more voters than in 2016 — due, in part, and finished second in New Hamp- gan to postpone their primary contests on the primary election calendar has to mail-in voting, which was passed shire, and Bernie Sanders won New until late spring and early summer in long been a point of contention for into law in 2019 by the Republican-con- Hampshire and Nevada — South the hope that public health officials those close to the process because the trolled state legislature. Carolina Rep. James Clyburn, House would know more about how the virus Commonwealth plays a generally less When the votes were counted, Joe Majority Whip and de facto leader of behaves and how the American people significant role in the selection of party Biden won Erie County by 1,424 votes his state’s Democratic Party, endorsed might mitigate its spread. On March 15, nominees. 2020 was no different. Only and subsequently won Pennsylvania Biden and all but guaranteed the for- the Center for Disease Control advised nine states voted after Pennsylvania by nearly 81,000 votes. Both Erie Coun- mer vice president a victory in the an eight-week moratorium on gath- and, of those, only New York had more ty and Pennsylvania were blue again at

December 16, 2020 ErieReader.com | Erie Reader | 5 NEWS & VIEWS the top of the ticket. support for Joe Biden and Kamala Har- the ranks of Trump’s enablers, how- County, easily defeated Republican What didn’t hold in this election were ris, Republicans Tim DeFoor and Stacy ever, it remains to be seen whether or Greg Hayes, who earned his way onto Biden’s coat-tails to carry down-ballot Garrity defeated, respectively, Demo- not Laughlin will continue to hold the the general election ballot by way of a Democrats in Pennsylvania and across crats Nina Ahmad and Joe Torsella for trust of Erie voters through a second write-in campaign after having his pri- the country. The so-called “blue wave” the statewide offices of auditor general term. mary nominating petitions voided by stalled because of two primary factors: and state treasurer. In the race for the 16th Congressio- a state court for mass forgery of voter First, Democrats nationwide under- Democrats in Erie County also failed nal District, political newcomer Kristy signatures. Bizzarro retained his seat estimated the turnout by Trump sup- to capture the 49th District State Gnibus, a Democrat, could not take with Erie County’s largest statistical porters in his re-election effort. Across Senate seat held by Republican Dan down five-term Republican incum- victory in the 2020 election cycle. the country, and particularly in the Laughlin, a popular incumbent who bent Mike Kelly despite defeating him Throughout the 2020 campaign and Midwest, Trump supporters lined up was generally perceived by the elector- in Erie County and outperforming the the many trials that followed, good at the polls giving Trump a significant ate as a moderate voice in a partisan Biden/Harris ticket in every 16th Dis- people stood up for democracy, orga- lead on Election Day. That lead, in most legislature. Since the election, howev- trict county — Erie, Crawford, Mercer, nizing and working on behalf of candi- cases, did not hold up against the high er, Laughlin joined with Pennsylvania Lawrence, and Butler. High turnout dates who believe in the Constitution volume of mail-in and absentee ballots Senate Republicans to file anAmicus in this still Republican-heavy district and the rule of law. delivered before Nov. 3. Curiae brief with the U.S. Supreme made this contest unwinnable for Despite the shame brought upon the The other major impediment to a Court in a since-dismissed case by the Democrats, who have only held this good people of the Commonwealth by Democratic sweep was the fact that State of Texas — the most recent in a seat for one term from 2009-2011. Rep. Mike Kelly and his relentless pur- moderate Republicans who joined litany of frivolous lawsuits attempting In spite of the district and state- suit of nothing as the primary litigant the Biden coalition against Donald to undermine the United States Consti- wide losses, Democrats performed of Trump’s non-legal challenges to ev- Trump were not willing to repudiate tution and overturn the results of the well in Erie County. Attorney General ery court in the land, when the nation- the Grand Old Party that has allowed 2020 election. Josh Shapiro held his place as the top al and international press return to dis- Trump to run roughshod on the nation His challenger, Julie Slomski, charged vote-getter in Erie County — followed sect this election there will be but one since 2017. Instead, they remained loyal during the campaign that Laughlin by Gnibus and Biden — as he did in story to tell: Erie County went blue. to Republican candidates down-ballot was little more than a Republican his first campaign for attorney general even if they could no longer vote for pawn who voted with a partisan agen- four years ago. Shapiro also earned the Jim Wertz is a contributing editor the man at the top of their ticket. da that favored Trumpism and its de- most votes of any candidate statewide. and Chairman of the Erie County As a result of the high Republican stabilizing idiosyncrasies. That charge Third District State Representative Democratic Party. He can be reached turnout and the failure to convert and fell on deaf ears throughout the 49th Ryan Bizzarro, facing the only chal- at [email protected] and you capitalize on the moderate Republican District in Erie County. Since joining lenge for a state house race in Erie can follow him on Twitter @jim_wertz.

The most important gift this holiday season

The holiday season is upon us. Medical Associates of Erie wants to ensure you are at your best this season and would like to take a moment to remind you to schedule your wellness visit now for the New Year. Are you still hesitant to leave home? Our physicians are able to evaluate, diagnose and treat patients through telemedicine.

Please stay safe this holiday season; we can’t wait to see you in the New Year!

LECOMHealth.com

6 | Erie Reader | ErieReader.com December 16, 2020 NEWS & VIEWS Addressing Honorary Streets How renaming is one way to recognize special Erie people

The trend toward renaming parts Army and working at Erie Mal- nated extra food to the daycare of Erie streets to honor luminaries leable Iron — before he bought program at the MLK Center in the community began when Erie Mayor Joyce Savocchio decided the store and operated it with and to a low-income housing to rename the corner of East his wife for 35 years, until they complex. He enlisted friends Ninth and French streets after Eiji sold it in 2016 because of his ill- from small businesses, includ- Oue, who served as music director ness. ing Larry’s Central Market, Ser- of the Erie Philharmonic from 1990 to 1995. By then, Askins was beloved afin’s Food Market, Dominick’s in the neighborhood. “Every- restaurant and Tripifoods, for The late Phillip “Scotty” body down there is family,” help with his food programs. Askins Sr. may not be as well- Askins told the Times-News He organized a community known as some of them. when he made the hard deci- garden. He put together Christ- But his story is worth sharing, sion to sell. mas parties at nursing homes. especially now, when we can all Askins founded a ministry, He sponsored a neighborhood use a boost of inspiration to His Shining Lights, which held barbeque. get us through the cold days of a free Thanksgiving dinner ev- At the store itself, he tended winter during a pandemic. ery year at the nearby Martin to his customers, said Torres. LIZ ALLEN Torres was living in the 500 Luther King Jr. Center. “He and “He extended credit to the an official change for the U.S. block of West Fifth Street his family members did that, neighbors, his customers, he By: Liz Allen Postal Service. when he got to know Askins with the help of his church,” took care of them,” Torres add- hen Evan Torres I knew that in 2012, the cor- and his wife, Joyce, who owned said Torres. “It ran like clock- ed. asked me in Decem- ner of East Third and French Farrell’s Superette at the corner work, because of the contacts When he became too ill to Wber 2019 if the city of streets had belatedly been of West Fourth and Chestnut he had.” The dinner guests operate the store in 2016, neigh- Erie could rename a street to renamed “Harry T. Burleigh streets. “He ran the little mom- weren’t just from the neighbor- bors spread the word that the honor his friend, Phillip “Scot- Way,” to honor the famed Af- and-pop grocery store and I hood, he said. “It was a fellow- market was for sale. When he ty” Askins Sr., an “asset to the rican-American composer frequented the store for years,” ship of people within the city, sold his store in July 2016 to community,” I was flummoxed. whose family homestead at 137 said Torres, who now lives on anywhere in the city,” he said. Binder Singh, Askins threw a As a member of Erie City E. Third St. had been demol- Erie’s east side. Church choirs sang. Fraternity free farewell Italian dinner for Council, I could uncover no ished without regard for the Scotty Askins had grown groups set up and then tore the neighborhood, at the MLK rules about how to rename history it represented. up across the street from the down for the dinner. “He made Center to say goodbye. streets. Nor could I find a mas- And I realized that in Novem- store, starting there as a stock it happen. He never forgot his Torres likes the expression ter list of renamed streets at ber 2018, I had joined my City boy at age 16 when it was a neighbors and he took owner- that “it takes a village” to help a City Hall. I also had questions. Council colleagues to rename meat market, according to a ship of it,” Torres said. community, but he also points Should honorees be household Poplar Street, between West 2016 Erie Times-News story. From January into the sum- out that one person can make a names? Figures from Erie his- 26th and West 29th streets, as But Askins had other jobs — mer, Askins also organized difference. “I think that is what tory? Did you have to be a long “Florindo ‘Flo’ Fabrizio Way,” in including serving in the U.S. monthly soup nights. He do- I’ve learned from knowing him. time Erieite to rate for a street honor of the well-liked state name or did temporary resi- legislator who had lost his bat- dence count? tle with pancreatic cancer in I remembered the brouha- July that year. ha in 1995 when Erie Mayor I’m guessing that a lot of Joyce Savocchio rechristened Erie folks are familiar with East Ninth and French streets the names I just cited, and my as “Eiji Oue Way,” to honor the unofficial compilation of oth- charismatic conductor from er honorary street names in- Japan who led the Erie Phil- cludes politicians and commu- harmonic for five years before nity leaders whose names you leaving Erie for the Minnesota would easily recognize. Orchestra. I recalled that some people Phillip Askins Jr., left, is now involved in His Shining Lights, were upset when City Council the group founded by his late voted in 1998 to rename part of father, Phillip “Scotty” Askins Sr., East 18th Street, between State to provide Thanksgiving meals to German, as “Erma Lind- and other services to people in need in Erie. Askins Sr. directed sey Boulevard,” in honor of a much of his charitable work to noted local civil rights leader. the neighborhood near Farrell’s Residents on East 18th Street Superette, the corner store he feared that their mail would owned for 35 years at the corner of West Fourth and Chestnut get mixed-up, but the new streets in Erie’s West Bayfront street name was honorary, not neighborhood. LIZ ALLEN

December 16, 2020 ErieReader.com | Erie Reader | 7 NEWS & VIEWS

Erie Arts & Culture has promoted rick Fisher, executive director of Explore More a visual way to honor ordinary people who make Erie a strong Erie Arts & Culture. “We neglect ant to learn more about a community, with a portrait project to publicly celebrate those ev- Wdiverse group of Erie peo- on utility boxes along major eryday individuals who get up ple, often unheralded, who have thoroughfares in Erie. Bobby every day not out of duty but made our community a better Sulecki, who documents Erie’s Polish history, is featured on a box out of passion.” When someone place? at E. 11th and Parade streets like Scotty Askins organizes a Then visit Discovery Trail, the free annual Thanksgiving din- newest public art project by It’s true that it does take a vil- ner, that’s an act done out of Erie Arts & Culture, in which Erie lage, but one person in that vil- both passion and compassion, artists Jackie Quigley, Nick War- lage can motivate everybody,” he said. ren, Scott Gladd, and Brigette he said. Torres certainly persuaded me Davitt have created 24 portraits In leading by example, Askins that a street-corner bearing his and illustrations on vinyl wraps exemplified the character that name would be one way to hon- that have been installed on makes Erie special, said Torres. or Scotty Askins, who died on utility boxes along State Street, “Erie is a rally town,” he said. June 12, 2019. Parade Street and East 26th “When something happens, And when that honor occurs, it Street. they rally around the under- won’t be the first time that City Don’t just drive by the art. dog,” he said, which is why he Council has honored Askins. I Get out and read the stories of hopes others will rally to re- learned this from his obituary: these good souls, such as Bob- name part of West Fourth and “His first service award was at by Sulecki, who is documenting Chestnut streets after Askins. the age of 17 by City Council, the history of Erie’s Polish com- In fact, Askins is the type of when he saved the life of a girl munity. His advice, on the utili- person that Erie Arts & Culture who was on fire.” ty box at East 11th and Parade has in mind with its commit- streets, says: “Take pride in your ment to highlight the contribu- Liz Allen wrote a column neighborhood, take pride in tions of ordinary people to lift- about “ordinary people” for who you are, take pride in what ing Erie up. “We often imagine 15 years at the Erie Times- your background is, and never philanthropists to be those giv- News. You can reach her at be ashamed of where you came

LIZ ALLEN ing six-figure checks,” said Pat- [email protected]. from.”

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8 | Erie Reader | ErieReader.com December 16, 2020 NEWS & VIEWS What Will We Remember About 2020? Contemplating what will stay with us, what will fade away

It goes without saying that we United States — the single-day will be thinking about the impacts record of deaths in the United of this year — and the pandemic — for generations to come. With States as it stands on Thursday, so many dubious milestones to Dec. 11 at the time I am re-writ- choose from, what will stick out ing this story; the single-day the most? Will we be able to recall record of deaths in the United distinct moments, or just that our lives changed in ways many of us States set the week prior; the never expected? single-day record of deaths in the United States set in April; the time, nearly 3,000 people and, the number of deaths that would die that day. While I have occurred in the United don’t remember the exact day States in between April’s re- with exact details like I did in cord date and December’s. the moment when the carnage In terms of mass-casualty was unfolding on live TV, I do days in United States history, remember wondering then: the Great Galveston Storm Did I even know 3,000 people? of 1900 remains at the top at Like, shook-their-hand-know- 8,000. Second, the Battle of An- them? tietam in 1862. The enormity of that singular Then, it was 9/11. But at 3,011, moment of death clung to me more people died in a single NICK WARREN throughout the coming years. day from COVID-19 on Dec. It still does. And as I’ve grown 10, 2020 than those who died By: Ben Speggen ing of sadness, anger, anxiety, was shot… I remember… older, I’ve wondered what oth- during the terrorist attacks on regret, and frustration. I of- I remember wondering if, or er I remember whens I might U.S. soil in September 2001. long our journey in ten wonder how the weight when, I’d have a I remember… enter into the catalogue. Will we remember 12/10 life, impactful histori- might’ve been different if he generationally-shared life mo- Because, of course, my par- the same way we remember Acal mile markers tend carried it himself. ment. ents, baby boomers, had also 9/11? As the December 2020 to set the generational tone While both of my grandfa- A month before I turned 17, lived through the attacks on COVID-19 death toll crowds of our collective trek. For my thers were drafted in WWII, growing up in a small, South- Sept. 11, and the longest U.S.-in- the top-10 list of mass-casualty grandparents, who were either only one actively served over- western Pennsylvania town, I volved wars to follow. And dates, it’s hard to tell whether learning to crawl or were tak- seas, seeing early conflict from hadn’t given the Middle East their parents, the Greatest we’ll remember 12/10 or 12/11 or ing their first steps during the Normandy inward across the much thought. If you’d had Generation, had lived through 12/12 or … Great Depression, it was World European Continent. The oth- asked me to point out Saudi the Kennedy assassination, Looking back to Sept.16, 2020, War II, irrespective of the few- er was the second to last to be Arabia, or Afghanistan, or Iraq the ‘60s, and the Vietnam War when I filed a story about year age gap between them. drafted from his small South- on a map, I might’ve been con- as well. how COVID-19 is impacting For their children, my parents, western Pennsylvania town. fident in getting one, if any at As it stands, I can’t yet say our lives, the way we live, and their awareness of a bigger, He went to basic training in Bi- all, of those right. My age and whether I’ll remember with our livelihoods, which would wider world beyond them- loxi, Mississippi, not knowing interests had much more to do the same precision the details run one week later, the Cen- selves indelibly shifted the day whether the war would wel- with that ignorance than my of Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020 as I ter for Disease Control and Lee Harvey Oswald ascended come him one or two oceans location or high school history do Tuesday, Sept. 11., 2001. Prevention reported 194,092 to the sixth floor of the Texas away. It didn’t. Being born just lessons. What I will remember, COVID-19-related deaths in Book Depository in Dallas to five years after my older grand- But I can tell you that I re- though, is sitting at my com- America. Total confirmed cas- shoot and kill President John father made all the difference member where I was when I puter, deleting most of the es, at that date, stood at 6.5 F. Kennedy, and continued in his world. first heard that American Air- draft of a Year-in-Review look- million. through the ‘60s and into the Yet, both saw the world lines Flight 11 struck the north- back at the toll of the COVID-19 By the time the story was Vietnam War. through the same bifocal view: ern tower of the World Trade pandemic my editor had asked published, the numbers had My father turned 17 just a few The Depression, and The War. Center. And I can remember, me to write for the year-end gone up. months after the Selective Ser- Only their prescriptions were with vivid detail, when Unit- issue. I’ll remember being Today, those deaths in the vice announced that there’d be different. ed Airlines Flight 175, at 9:03 crushed by a record number on U.S. are at 295,450, up 101,358 in no further draft calls for U.S. Growing up, I remember a.m., collided with its southern a record day that likely won’t just under 3 months. The total men to report for duty to ser- hearing the shared intro to the sister tower. And just over a hold that record for long. confirmed cases are up 9.2 mil- vice in the Vietnam War. But same big stories that featured half-hour later when Ameri- That number: 3,011. Which lion in the U.S., from 6.5 to 15.7 still, high school friends, rel- the same big elements with mi- can Airlines Flight 77 hit the came a week after 2,885, which, in the same period. atives, and friends he’d make nor details differing: I remem- Pentagon. And at 10:03 a.m. in turn, had come eight months Then, Pennsylvania, with later in life were called upon ber when, I remember where… when United Airlines Flight after 2,752. In between, nearly its 151,081 confirmed positive and did serve. And the war did I remember when Pearl Har- 93 dropped from the skies in 290,000. cases, ranked 12th highest weigh heavy on him through bor was bombed… I remember Shanksville, Pennsylvania. That is the death toll from amongst the states and terri- them and generational shar- where I was when Kennedy While we didn’t know it at the COVID-19 pandemic in the tories. Nearly 8,000 had proven

December 16, 2020 ErieReader.com | Erie Reader | 9 NEWS & VIEWS

fatal, where the state ranked ed in Erie County in March? our favorite local business really have? when…? ninth overall. Or will we be thinking of this announced their online shop- Will unemployment benefits Will we remember this as the Since then, Pennsylvania, globally, what it’s meant world- ping portal? Or that they be extended? Will the U.S. gov- year we trusted or distrusted with a total population just wide? were going to wait it out? Or ernment pass a budget before science? Trusted or distrusted shy of 13 million, added 312,094 Will we remember the first when they opened, how they year’s end? democracy? positive cases, totaling 463,175. celebrities to report positive opened? Or when they closed, Will those who can’t make The shock of the singular mo- Deaths total over 12,000. COVID-19 results, like when and whether it was temporary their rent or their mortgage ments that leave us in awe — To put that in the context Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson or permanent? receive more help? Are they on the bombing of Pearl Harbor, of Erie County, that’s near the did in March? Or will we re- Will we remember when we their own? the attacks on the World Trade equivalent of losing the bor- member the latest celebrities, taught ourselves the ukulele Will we remember when bars Center Towers — leave us lit- ough of Edinboro and Summit such as Ellen DeGeneres, who in April, or the kindergarten were reopened then closed tle choice in the matter when Township combined. announced her condition via a teacher in September juggling again? When in-person school- it comes to remembering. Few In Erie, when I wrote that tweeted screenshot? a Zoom window full of stu- ing resumed, then went virtual of us consciously made the piece in September, there Will we remember when dents struggling to pay atten- again? decision to make the memory; had been 1,439 positive cases none of us could find Clorox tion? Or the student whose Is there anything left from instead, the moment’s tremors reported and 37 deaths con- wipes on the shelves? Or will face wasn’t on screen because that initial check? Did we put a ran deep enough to leave a last- firmed. Today, those numbers we remember when our com- they didn’t have the right tech few hundred bucks in savings? ing impact. are 7,667 and 111, respectively. mander-in-chief pondered or enough bandwidth? Do we have any savings left? While we waited in fear for In three months, that’s 6,228 aloud whether injecting bleach Will we remember scouring Did we have any to start with another attack on U.S. soil, more positive cases and 74 ad- might help fight off the virus? home-improvement stores for before the pandemic? both after Pearl Harbor and ditional deaths. Will we remember when we deep-freezers to start stock- Can we remember what, Sept. 11, the follow-ups never Put another way, from the learned to make sourdough ing up? Or will we remember when, and how…? came. Yet, the trends suggest onset of the pandemic in mid- bread at home, or will we re- the make-shift tractor-trailer And why? Why should we re- that more Dec. 10s are on the March through the middle of member the eyes above the morgues parked outside of member? And who? Who have horizon in 2020 and into 2021. September, Erie County had mask of the cashier who rung hospitals that couldn’t process we — will we — remember? Because of the continuous reported an average of roughly us out at the grocer when we the dead quickly enough? Will we remember ourselves in nature of the COVID-19 crises 240 positive cases per month bought the yeast, the same Will we remember which the moment, the moments? — the public health crisis, the and just six deaths. eyes that saw throngs of governor imposed which re- Will we remember the 3,011 economic crisis, the fill-in- In the span of the last three yeast-purchasing patrons, strictions? Lifted them? Re-im- lost souls and the day it hap- the-blank-with-an-adjective- months, Erie County’s average sometimes-not-always six- posed them? Tested positive pened? The numbers — the personal-to-you crisis, as the are now 2,076 positive cases feet apart, pass through their for the coronavirus? Or when souls reflected in but sterilized pandemic has upended our per month and just shy of 25 checkout lines during one of other elected officials tested by data points — that came way of living — we are living deaths per month. many eight-hour shifts? positive? Or when that New before? Those after, and if so through an unrelenting series Where are we headed from Will we remember when we Hampshire speaker of the when? And when we hoped it of singular moments. Wheth- here? That depends on what cut our own hair for the first house died from it? would stop, became numb to it, er we remember them — the changes — from our personal time? When we got our first Will we remember when we knew someone who died from names of the dead, the names choices governing our behav- professional haircut while learned the definition of es- it? of the living, the decisions we ior, to the orders, directives, wearing a mask? When we sential worker and whether Will we remember 2020 col- made, and the things we did and measures executed by made the decision not to get a or not what we do is viewed as lectively or month-by-month? or are doing — is our choice. those we’ve collectively chosen haircut at all? essential? Will we remember What happened in the pre-pan- Likewise, we will have choic- to govern us. Or, will we remember our when we, or someone we know demic months? Surely, there es in 2021: To continue to prac- As we close out the year, first takeout? Or how many and love, was furloughed, that were the usual normal life oc- tice adaptive behaviors for we find ourselves experienc- times we ordered UberEats, their line of work didn’t work currences. The losses — the our own personal safety and ing more COVID-19 cases and putting someone else to the out during a pandemic? non-COVID-related deaths, di- the collective good; or, to not deaths while we have fewer re- task of fetching our food and And what did we do with vorces, demotions. The gains — — and to give up in search of strictions on our lives than we transporting it to us so that that government-issued one- the births, the marriages, the going back. To be vaccinated; did in April with more restric- we didn’t have to feel unsafe time stimulus of $1,200? Did job promotions . And the mun- or not to be vaccinated. tions and fewer deaths. leaving our homes? What was we use that for the yeast? Or dane — when was it that the These are the questions. And What does this all add up to it that we ate on Monday? Did the Eats? Or did that go to- novelty wore off and the bore- the moments to which they if we’re to make sense of 2020, we finish it, or did it end up in wards the rent, the electric, dom crept back, followed by are attached will be of impor- reviewing the year of the pan- the trash? the gas to power the stove to hints of more anxiety, moaning tance to each generation liv- demic? Will we remember the first bake the bread, the gas in the like an alley cat at night? ing through the I remember Perhaps that’s best answered restaurant patio we revisited car to drive to our next shift Will we remember 2020 at its when in 2020, and onwards by asking: What will we re- when restrictions and miti- standing behind plexiglass, end? The race to roll out a vac- into the next in search of the member most from this year? gations were lifted? Was it a checking out the yeast-buyers, cine? The mounting worry over I remember post-COVID-19 fu- Will we remember a particu- pilsner or an IPA we sipped the buy-in-bulk purchases, the whether hospitals large and ture. lar day for a particular reason? when we felt a little risky — or return-shoppers who bought a small, urban and rural can keep A week? A month? The entire was that the feeling of libera- half-gallon of milk on Monday up with the climbing numbers The online edition of this year? tion? Did we leave a tip? Is 20 and are back Tuesday because of those in need of ICU care, to article contains some Will that thing we remember percent still enough? Will we they’re thirsty shoppers? be put on ventilators? additional content. Ben be the first reported cases of remember when we decided to Will we get another stimu- Will we remember 2020 Speggen can be contacted the COVID-19 pandemic in the do it again, or go back to just lus? Why was it just once? How for the politics? Were we al- at bSpeggen@ErieReader. United States in February? Or, delivery or takeout? much impact does 133 bucks — ways-maskers, or never-mask- com, and you can follow him locally, the first cases report- Will we remember when $1200 divided over 9 months — ers? Or masks-but-only- on Twitter @BenSpeggen

10 | Erie Reader | ErieReader.com December 16, 2020 “YOU DESERVE THE VERY BEST!”

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December 16, 2020 ErieReader.com | Erie Reader | 11 FEATURE 2020 Monolithic in Its Challenge But Erie demonstrates resourcefulness, resilience to carry on

Even before mysterious monoliths began surfacing around the world, life this year had felt alien. But despite historic challenges and disruptions to our status quo, Erieites were among the human lifeforms who found ways to adapt and persevere during what some may call 2020: A Suck Odyssey.

• In January, an Erie man was sentenced to up to 23 months in prison and one year of probation for staging his own kidnapping, which had involved a “kidnapper” duct-taping him to a chair in order to collect “ransom money” from his fiancee. We hope they get to tie the knot soon.

• An apt analogy for the serious dents 2020 has left in our collective psyche — amidst a domestic dis- pute this April, an Erie road rager was charged for repeatedly ramming a woman’s car with his truck.

Although these petty misdeeds are certainly to be frowned upon (or however the aliens might express disapproval — acid drool or perhaps inflating some NICK WARREN kind of indignation pouch?), they are nowhere near as contemptible as what transpired on the evening By: Matt Swanseger they absolutely should not, but y’all gotta back me of Saturday, May 30. That night, a peaceful protest up. If you felt jilted when The Temptations and of police brutality in the death of George Floyd de- o...what y’all wearing when the aliens get here? Four Tops canceled their Warner Theatre gig back volved into a full-scale riot, damaging several Down- Surely you’ve heard about all the monoliths in January, imagine how you’ll feel when the Xer- town Erie businesses and injuring several people. Spopping up lately — the tall, shiny columns gloggians (or whoever) cancel Earth. If you’re able Perhaps the ugliest and most indelible moment oc- shaped like Toblerone bars that have been spotted to — and I hope you are — take a few deep breaths curred when a riot control officer kicked unarmed, in Utah, Romania, California, and Texas? Well, that with me and let’s run through this together. seated 21-year-old Hannah Silbaugh to the ground seems to me like a sign they’ll be here any day now, — a visual circulated widely in the aftermath. so at the very least we’d better be wearing a smile Column A: Please, We’re Begging You, Zap Us Now It would hardly be the last unsightly scene from and can-do attitude — because after this latest I’m going to be real with y’all, there were a num- a year fraught with social and political tensions, as round of shutdowns, many of us may very well be ber of stories to emerge from our area this year racist, sexist, homophobic, and transphobic senti- looking at our next employers. that would have any sensible sentient being ments bubbled to the fore. A public park vandalized Of course, I needn’t remind you to do your smil- scratching their head(s). with racial epithets. Highly disrespectful, sexist ing from at least six feet away. This COVID-19 deal’s comments made during a Erie City Council meeting. still dragging its feet like an old mule with a bellyful • Corry Police were able to track down a stolen Numerous insensitive memes and remarks made at of Railbender, and Yahweh Yahweh Yahweh (as of bulldozer when they found the perpetrator’s the expense of the very capable Pennsylvania Sec- this year, the name of an actual Erieite) only knows hoodie at — you guessed it — the site of the retary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine (a trans woman). what kind of bugs these outworlders might be car- stolen bulldozer. Surveillance footage from a If this was all we had to show for ourselves, we’d rying. Hell, they might even be bugs. At any rate, re- nearby Wal-Mart showed a man wearing it the be in trouble. But thankfully for us and our molec- member to be courteous. Good morning, Zanaglorp. night the machine went missing, as well as his ular constitutions, we have many more examples of I gotta say, I just LOVE what you’ve done with your truck that had been captured on Jackson Exca- good that should spare us from any potential disin- mandibles. vating cameras that same day. A Wal-Mart re- tegration rays. It is with some concern that I write this, because ceipt was still in the hoodie’s pockets. With all as you and I both know, 2020 hasn’t exactly been our due respect to the investigators, this case was Column B: On Second Thought, We’ll Keep Our best showing. At times this year, our behavior as a kind of a pushover. Molecules, Thank You species could be described as counterintuitive and Despite all the evidence of self-sabotage I’ve pre- counterproductive — what with all our bickering • Speaking of thieving, some general tips — do sented so far, here’s why I’m hopeful we (hypotheti- and in-fighting over pretty common-sense issues not stab yourself during an attempted hijack- cally) won’t be vaporized. like “Who has the right to stay healthy?” and “Who ing (as an Erie man did this August), and defi- deserves to be treated like a real person?” And to nitely do not wear the same sweatshirt to mul- • Early on in the pandemic, the Erie County Gam- Zanaglorp or Zeebleebop or whatever alien overlord tiple car break-ins in a row, especially one that ing Revenue Authority (ECGRA) established a is making the executive decisions, that would seem a November Millcreek Township Police report $2.35 million COVID-19 Response Fund consisting to be quite the indictment. Why shouldn’t they just described as bearing the “cartoon image of a of three components — an Immediate Human zap us all and start over tabula Roswell? wildcat and image of a yellow star to the right.” Relief Fund (benefiting low-income, homeless, Although I can only speak for our tiny corner of A lucky burglary shirt is only lucky until you and vulnerable populations), a Small Business Pennsylvania, I’m going to do my best to argue that get caught. Loan Program, and Civic Institution Deferred In-

12 | Erie Reader | ErieReader.com December 16, 2020 FEATURE

come Loans. It was a sweeping gesture toward (Welcoming America) and one of the nation’s self-preservation impacting community mem- “most livable small cities” (SmartAsset), con- bers across the board. tinues extensive development downtown (Warner Theatre renovations, UPMC Park, • Following the announcement of Erie Communi- and the multiple Erie Downtown Develop- ty Foundation President Mike Batchelor’s retire- ment Corporation ventures in the vicinity ment, the organization marked its most success- of Perry Square, such as the Flagship City ful Erie Gives Day to date, with $6,358,146 pouring Food Hall) and along the bayfront (Erie-West- in from 11,482 unique donors, a resounding show ern Pennsylvania Port Authority-directed of support for area nonprofits and their causes clean-up of the bluffs and dock wall im- — from animal rights to human rights and ev- provements along East Dobbins Landing). erything in between. One of the most prominent It should be noted, however, that some are of those nonprofits, the YMCA of Greater Erie, dismayed about PennDOT’s plans for the celebrated its 160th anniversary this year. Bayfront Parkway, fearing that its dual-lane roundabouts (at the feet of Holland Street • Throughout the year, a number of grassroots and the Sassafras Street Extension) and a efforts emerged to help keep citizens informed traffic pass-under at State Street will play up and protected from the novel coronavirus. Gan- its highway-like character and diminish its non University student Austin Detzel designed potential as an asset for cyclists and pedestri- a Live COVID Tracker that displays a heat map ans. I’m not sure how actual extraterrestrials of where infection rates are most concentrated. get around (sometimes flying bicycles in the Teenage Eagle Scout Ben Grassinger devised rub- movies), but it’s something to keep in mind. ber fingertip protection kits aptly branded “Give Corona the Finger.” Volunteer “sew-warriors” of • Pepperoni balls finally got the recognition the Mask-Erie Facebook group handmade thou- they deserve, with an entire Stanganelli’s sands upon thousands of cloth masks for front- inventory selling out in a matter of minutes line workers. Regional manufacturers banded on the home shopping network QVC. If we together with Penn State Behrend to produce a were to see intergalactic guests in the com- new type of plastic face shield, and area distill- ing months, we must be sure to impress them ers stepped up to compensate for a nationwide with this Erie delicacy, as well as the best of- shortage of hand sanitizer, the official alcohol of ferings of our local bars and restaurants who 2020. have fought valiantly to keep their lights on in a year hamstrung by restrictions. • We deepened our appreciation of hometown he- roes and trailblazers. Through a series of public Well, this list is not exhaustive, but I think it’s a art murals, we honored individuals such as NFL good start. If nothing else, it proves we generally Hall of Famer Freddie Biletnikoff, 1950 Nation- do care for one another and are making strides al League Rookie of the Year Sam Jethroe (who toward a better and more inclusive future. Yes, crossed over to predominantly white Major we’ve done some stupid things out of boredom League Baseball from the Negro League), and and frustration — such as illegally selling spiked retired Erie School District teacher and counsel- slushies at a North East campground and con- or Luther Manus Jr. — more tributes and more verting a dried-up Water World at Waldameer public art are forthcoming (see the Whole Foods into a private skatepark — but hopefully that Co-Op, for example). will subside once our public lives can resume safely. • St. Vincent nurses were paid the ultimate re- Once we wise up and do everything we can to spect when they were featured in the Marvel make that happen, I feel the outlanders will find Comics limited release The Vitals: True Nurse our diverse array of dining and entertainment Stories. Progressive hires like former Olympian options much to their liking — art, theater (not Ian Roberts, the first African American man to just the streaming kind, although ours have done • No Doctor’s order needed serve as Millcreek School District superinten- a great job with that), live music, pro sports (the dent, and Tyler Titus, the first openly transgen- SeaWolves are here to stay!), indoor surfing, ax • Gender determination at 8 weeks der man to head the Erie School Board, may very throwing, and even curling. If these activities are well prove worthy of their own tributes in the too primitive for their potentially overswelled future. craniums, at least we will have demonstrated ini- tiative. • While we’re on the subject of education, Erie And that deserves a pat on the back with a County, the largest statistical population area in warm tentacle. the United States without a community college, was finally approved for one, a move that will Matt Swanseger is generally dismissive grant affordable access to higher learning for of conspiracy theories except in those years to come. situations when they provide a convenient narrative framing device. He can be Call or text for info 814-580-9164 • Erie, this year named both a “welcoming city” reached at [email protected] WWW.PINKORBLUE.SIMPLYBOOK.ME

December 16, 2020 ErieReader.com | Erie Reader | 13 FEATURE The Unmistakable Anuszkiewicz Erie-born Op Art pioneer’s work spoke for itself

The 1986 painting “Orange, Rose and Metropolitan Museum of Art. During Magenta Knot” [left] demonstrates several this time, he began refining his experi- of Erie-born artist Richard Anuszkiewicz’s [bottom right] Senator J. William Fulbright mental ideas further, focusing his art on (left) and President Lyndon Baines Johnson visual tension, high contrast colors, and view Anuszkiewicz’ 1963 “Squaring the negative space. His work was continu- Circle,” at the White House Arts Festival in ously rejected by gallery owners. Yet, he 1965. was undeterred. “My work was unique in the sense that Parochial School on East 13th Street for there was nothing like it,” Anuszkiewicz grade school. He was a good and atten- said in 1980. “But this made it difficult for tive student. According to one account, me. People didn’t know what to do with a nun once noticed his artistic abilities me when I took my work around to the with crayons and assigned him to deco- galleries.” rate the classroom blackboard. In 1944, In 1960, he married a schoolteach- he transferred to Erie Technical High er named Elizabeth Sally Feeney. That School where he could enroll in more same year, he secured his first solo show. art classes and spent up to three hours Nothing sold for two weeks until on the a day studying different theories of art very last day of the exhibit, influential under Joseph Plavcan, an established figures such as Alfred Barr and Nelson and renowned artist in his own right who Rockefeller purchased pieces. His ca- taught at the school for four decades reer took off. His newly-coined Op Art, and who Anuszkiewicz described as his which explored our perceptions of light,

RICHARDANUSZKIEWICZ.COM most significant influence. color, and line, was both beloved and re- Even as a teenager, Anuszkiewicz was viled. He spent many of these early years a disciplined artist. He won a National fighting the urge to constantly defend By: Jonathan Burdick was only a few days shy of his 90th birth- Scholastic Art Award as a senior and his work from those who he felt were hile recently teaching about the day. Local journalist Kevin Cuneo had was awarded a full scholarship to the misrepresenting his intentions. By 1964 W1950s in my high school U.S. His- mentioned his death in his Erie Times- Cleveland Institute of Art. He then com- though, LIFE Magazine was describing tory course, a few students chose to News column the following week, but I pleted his MFA at Yale under the influ- him as “one of the new wizards” of the research the art from the decade. Nat- had somehow missed it — perhaps too ential German-born artist and teacher Op Art movement and he was routinely urally, I recommended that they check absorbed with the pandemic and loom- Josef Albers, where he worked with oils, selling out his one-man shows. Art crit- out familiar names like Jackson Pollock, ing election. watercolors, and ink and, more impor- ic Stuart Preston described him as “the Elaine de Kooning, and others who pop- Anuszkiewicz was born in Erie to Pol- tantly, began to seriously study color non-objective painter as scientist.” ularized abstract expressionism as their ish immigrants in 1930. It was the early theory. Albers convinced Anuszkiewicz “I’m interested in making something starting point. years of the Great Depression and he not to pursue Realism and his thesis ulti- romantic out of a very, very mechanistic “One of these sold for $140 million?!” came early and unexpectedly, forcing mately focused on the more experimen- geometry,” Anuszkiewicz said of his geo- one Google-savvy student exclaimed. his mother, Victoria, to deliver him in tal: an analysis of the creation of space metrical abstract approach. “Geometry “My little brother could do that,” anoth- their east Erie home. He was his moth- using line drawings. and color represent to me an idealized, er added, thoroughly unimpressed. er’s sixth child. She had been widowed After graduating in 1957, he moved to classical place that’s very clear and very “The art world is complicated,” I re- with five children before meeting and New York City and secured a job at The pure.” sponded matter-of-factly. marrying Richard’s father, Adam. Their I did my best to explain action painting household was strictly Catholic and they as a technique during which I remem- always lived on the brink of poverty, but bered the Erie born-and-raised Richard Anuszkiewicz described his childhood Anuszkiewicz. While his optical art (bet- as happy and full of companionship ter known as Op Art) was more associat- and affection. His father, who worked at ed with the ’60s and ’70s, he established the Watson Paper Mill, would bring his himself and began to refine his innova- young son home scrap tablets of paper tive ideas during the ’50s. I certainly can’t to draw on, fueling a love of art early on. claim to be a connoisseur and am not “[Richard] brought out a scrapbook even remotely an art historian, but with that his mother had kept chronicling his my limited knowledge, I decided that career, which demonstrated the great my students might find Anuszkiewicz’s pride she had in her son’s accomplish- mathematical approach to art to be an ments,” artist and friend Curlee Raven interesting contrast to the controlled Holton remembered in an essay on their chaos of Pollock’s canvases. collaboration. “He spoke of the commit- “Oh wow, he just died in May!” the Goo- ted support of his family who had no real gle-savvy student said. This surprised notion of the world he was entering, but me. We found his obituary in the New who had great faith in his abilities.”

York Times confirming his death, which Anuszkiewicz attended St. Stanislaus RICHARDANUSZKIEWICZ.COM

14 | Erie Reader | ErieReader.com December 16, 2020 FEATURE

Erie-born artist Richard Anuszkiewicz, pit illusion against reality,” he said. “The shown at work in his studio during the mind tells you that it’s a square, but then 1960s, was one of the key figures of the Op Art movement. He compared his approach the eye starts to play tricks. ... An artist to that of an architect’s, playing with always likes to have people think. Art is perception and exploring what’s possible an intellectual activity. There is always through the rudiments of geometric shapes the challenge for the eye and mind.” and lines. In the digital age, Op Art may not seem quite as impressive as computer soft- and attention and, despite early adora- ware makes the creation of such art less tions, Anuszkiewicz’s work was increas- difficult. As artist Shelley Esaak wrote in ingly dismissed. 2019 though, “Op Art represents a great “What was so hurtful, as far as I was deal of math, planning and technical concerned, was that as much as I was skill, as none of it came freshly-inked given praise and popularity before the out of a computer peripheral. Original, [Op Art] movement, once the movement hand-created Op Art deserves respect.” really got on the way, I was attacked — Anuszkiewicz lived his last years in rel- and vehemently so,” he reflected. “I felt ative solitude with his wife and studio betrayed by my own critics in this coun- in New Jersey. While his name recog-

RICHARDANUSZKIEWICZ.COM try … [but] I feel I’ve explored areas that nition may have faded somewhat over hadn’t been touched by other artists.” the years, including in his hometown of As the years passed, appreciation for Erie, perhaps the most important part of He elaborated how his art was about has always been determined by what I his work again grew. Youngstown Vindi- Richard Anuszkiewicz’s legacy is his per- problem-solving and experimenting wanted the color to do. Color function cator art columnist Clyde Singer wrote sistence in following his vision and the with visual ideas and contrasts of colors becomes my subject matter and its per- in 1984 that his art had been “a welcome willingness he had to take risks as he de- that intrigued him. Creating his art was formance is my painting.” relief to many because it slowed down veloped his signature style. less about the hand and more about the In 1967, he moved out of the city to the bombardment of abstract expres- “There are no formulas in this profes- mind and he desired to create art that nearby Englewood, N.J. with Elizabeth sionism that reigned supreme.” sion,” he once said. “In order to find your was timeless. He viewed what he did and their three children, where he re- Others, like art critic Marcia Corbino, own style, your own direction, you have similar to that of an architect. mained the rest of his life (although admired the “tremulous disorientation” to go through the process of finding out “People thought that I always wanted with many trips back to Erie). As his of Anuszkiewicz’s squares: “It retreats, for yourself.” to shock the eye,” he once said. “I didn’t fame grew though, he continued to stay it advances, it seems to hover over the Indeed, that is what he did throughout want to shock the eye. I wanted to use grounded. canvas. ... [It] is so distinctive that his his life and it is a lesson worth nurturing colors together that had never been “Unlike most artists I know, he is nei- dazzling canvases need no signature.” and encouraging. used together before.” ther a limelight hog nor a bore, but a very “To keep from jeopardizing their visual “Art has been a way of life for me,” he Instead of mixing colors on a palette, straight, very likable fellow,” writer Jay effect, Mr. Anuszkiewicz does not put told the New York Times in 1985. “I have he wanted viewers of his art to mix the Jacobs said of Anuszkiewicz. his signature on his canvases,” The New never done anything else. Art was some- colors in their own eyes. Critical views of his art fluctuated over York Times explained. “But he really does thing I needed to say. It made life more “[I]f you want to change a color you the years, but he continued to push the not need to. His signature is the canvas than existence.” don’t have to change that color, you envelope on the ideas that interested itself. An Anuszkiewicz is unmistakable.” Jonathan Burdick runs the historical blog can just change the color around it,” he him. Abstract expressionism and pop That had always been his intent. Rust & Dirt. He can be reached at jburdick@ once explained. “[T]he image in my work art received much of the critical praise “I thought it was an interesting idea to eriereader.com

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December 16, 2020 ErieReader.com | Erie Reader | 15 YEAR IN REVIEW The Top 5 Films in a Very Bizarre Movie Year How we consumed film may have changed forever

What do our “Top 5 Movies of 2020” have in common? For one, all five classify as smaller, mid-budget films. Secondly, none of them received wide-scale release in U.S. movie theaters, instead distributed through various streaming channels to be enjoyed at home.

3. I’m Thinking of Ending Things Now for another story about the inevitability of death. Charlie Kaufman adapts Iain Reed’s novel into a story of loneliness and regret that is uniquely Kaufman’s style. As the film progresses, the story of a man taking his girlfriend to meet his parents slowly gives way to a dreamlike and occasionally horrifying descent into the mind, and a look at a life filled with pain, grief, and unimaginable longing. With the possi- ble exception of Synecdoche, New York, this film may be Kaufman’s most existentially terrifying. The film it- self is difficult to explain without giving much away, so if this style of filmmaking is for you, just see it for yourself. 134 minutes // Rated R // Netflix

4. Never Rarely Sometimes Always Yet another film that ended up being far more rele- vant to the times in which we are living than probably

NICK WARREN initially thought. Eliza Hittman’s story of a pregnant teenager’s journey to New York City to have an abor- tion is a drama that plays out thousands of times ev- By: Forest Taylor 1. First Cow ery day in the real world. As a result, Hittman shoots Kelly Reichardt once again sets a film in the untamed her film in a stark, realist style that presents this girl’s he year 2020 has fundamentally changed the world American frontier to tell a tale about the simple peo- plight as just one in a series of situations that arise in ways that we can’t fully comprehend yet, and the ple that history often forgets, and continues to ce- whenever the issue of abortion becomes such a po- Tmovie industry was no different. With the ongoing ment herself as one of the best American filmmakers litical hot-button. These issues have come to the fore- pandemic keeping movie theaters closed for much of the working today. The story about two men who start front again for obvious reasons and because of that, year, almost all major releases were canceled for the en- their own business with a little help from a wealthy films like this are a vitally important reminder that the tirety of 2020. With theaters closed, streaming channels landowner’s milk cow is simple enough, but Reichardt greatest (and most endangered) freedom of all is the quickly filled in the gap, but even there, big studio films uses that to showcase the capitalist exploitation of right to bodily autonomy. were having difficulty finding an audience. Now as stream- the Wild West as well as the opportunities that it can 101 minutes // Rated PG-13 // Focus Features ing becomes more prominent and multi-billion dollar cor- offer to people who might otherwise be denied them. porations tighten their stranglehold on when and how we At its heart though, it is a tale of friendship. John 5. Bacurau can experience media, some have serious fears that movie Magaro and Orion Lee have a chemistry that carries Finally, Kleber Mendonca Filho and Juliano Dor- theaters as a whole may not survive this pandemic. Like the entire movie, and Reichardt’s simple but effective nelles’ brilliant little genre exercise takes what starts it was for almost everything else, 2020 was brutal on the direction makes this the easy pick for the best film of as a social issues drama and injects it with a shot of world of film. the year. action movie energy that makes it a rival to the best of However, there is a bright side in all of this. Being the first 121 minutes // Rated PG-13 // A24 John Carpenter. Following the townspeople in a small, year in a long time with no Star Wars, Marvel, or live-action off-the-map Brazilian town who soon have to defend remakes of Disney cartoons monopolizing most of the dis- 2. She Dies Tomorrow themselves against outside invaders, this little film cussion, things are now more open for smaller, mid-bud- Amy Seimetz attempted to make a modern horror was the most pleasant surpris e of the year. Mixing get films. Some of them are still too hard to find, but 2020 film based on her own nightmares but inadvertently social satire with exploitation movie energy, you nev- has given us a few unexpected gems from unlikely places. made something far more relevant. In her own way, er really expect which direction the film is going to go Films that might otherwise get lost in the shuffle are being she made possibly the most accurate snapshot of the until it’s already taken you there. The perfect response championed by critics and audiences in this “year without fear and anxiety of life in the year 2020. The story of a to anyone who claims that all foreign language films movies.” At the very least, maybe producers will start to woman’s knowledge of her own death becoming con- are boring. think twice before spending $300 million on a film. tagious until it spreads to her entire neighborhood is 113 minutes // Vitrine Filmes/SBS Distribution Most refreshingly, this has been an exemplary year for ripe for interpretation, but the images of people slowly female filmmakers, as a sizable chunk of the most ac- overwhelmed with dread as they await the inevitable Honorable Mentions claimed films of the year have been directed by women. will always be tied to this moment in time. Seimetz’s The Assistant With that said, here are the Top 5 films to be released in take on the fear of death is equal parts scary, surreal, Mank a year when movies were mostly floating in limbo. No one and strangely funny — and the result is a modern hor- The Vast of Night really knows what the future of movie-going will look like, ror masterpiece. Zombi Child but great films will always be here. 84 minutes // Rated R // Neon Save Yourselves!

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18 | Erie Reader | ErieReader.com December 16, 2020 YEAR IN REVIEW Top TV Picks of 2020 Some of our favorite small screen offerings this year

Streaming television brought us some Two managed to outdo it. Perhaps the unforgettable characters in 2020, including baby-sitters, bounty hunters, chess key reason for Season Two’s success is wunderkinds, comediennes, and, of course, that of simple character development. the inimitable David Rose (center) The first eight episodes got us where we wanted to be: Seeing Din Djarin, the title and in 2020 it won nine Emmy Awards, character, acting as real adoptive father sweeping the acting categories. Though to Grogu, better known to the world as Season Six might not be its best (I would “Baby Yoda.” The cutest being in the argue for Season Five), it deserved the galaxy far, far away is just as adorable attention. Created by the father-and- and gif-able as he was before, but now son team of Eugene and Daniel Levy, we see the show with raised stakes, as it follows the Rose family after losing the Mandalorian truly loves the green their fortune, as they take up residence little guy. How a character with no facial in an adjoining pair of motel rooms. As expressions is able to come off as a pos- one would expect from actors Eugene itive father figure is telling, but this on- Levy, Catherine O’Hara, and Chris El- screen relationship is complemented liott, it’s hilarious. What the junior Levy, with some standout episodes like “The Annie Murphy, and the rest of the cast Jedi” — written and directed by Edin- add, however, is what makes this show boro University’s own Dave Filoni. The rise above its expectations. The heart in Mandalorian is arguably one of the best

NICK WARREN Schitt’s Creek is nearly unparalleled in pieces of Star Wars media ever made, any other series in recent memory, and and reason enough to give Disney + a By: Nick Warren Queen’s Gambit is that there isn’t more I would have never imagined crying as try. of it to watch. This in reality, of course, much as I did while watching the entire Created by: Jon Favreau, based on Star elevision meant a lot to us this year. is a good thing. Some miniseries need run. Wars by George Lucas / Eight episodes (16 TWe rallied around absurdities like Ti- to be a miniseries, and this is one of Created by: Eugene Levy and Dan Levy / 14 total) ger King as Netflix settled in as one of them. Based on the 1983 novel by Wal- episodes (80 total) the medium’s predominant platforms. ter Tevis, the seven-episode series fol- Feel Good // Season One // BBC/Netflix New streaming services like Disney+, lows the fictional Beth Harmon (Anya The Baby-Sitters Club // Season One Best Import/Best Show You Probably HBO Max, and The Peacock came onto Taylor-Joy) from her childhood in an // Netflix Haven’t Seen the scene, to varying success. This year orphanage to being a world-traveling Best Family-friendly Show/Best Ray of Fast, frantic, and heartwarming, Feel saw the end of beloved shows like The chess champion. An unlikely prodigy, Pure Joy Good explores the many complicated Good Place, Silicon Valley, and Bojack Harmon struggles with addiction (to an In an example of a show that is both ways its characters choose to chase Horseman. There were surprisingly unnamed tranquilizer) and alcoholism, entirely better than it needs to be and happiness. The series centers around fantastic comedies from FXX like Dave attempting to balance her life with her something that is perfect for exactly comedian Mae Martin, playing a fic- and the second seasons of What We unrelenting chess obsession. In short, what it sets out to be, I give you: The tionalized version of herself. One night Do in the Shadows and Hulu’s unparal- it’s visually stunning, emotionally en- Baby-Sitters Club. Though I don’t have after performing at a comedy club, she leled PEN15. Technology ran rampant in gaging, and meticulously well-crafted — any children myself, this show feels like meets a woman, George (Charlotte shows like Upload and Devs, superpow- complete with accurate gameplay, even something that could be equally loved Ritchie), and the two quickly fall in ered teams wrought havoc in brilliant according to expert chess players. It’s by children and parents alike. It’s shock- love. The series sees Martin grappling sophomore seasons of The Umbrella just what you picture “good TV” as being ingly good, almost to a humorous de- with her recovery as a cocaine addict Academy and The Boys, and animation these days, just inventive enough to be gree. The amount of sincerity balanced and her as-yet undiagnosed mental gave us everything from the mind-bend- impressive, while still being thoroughly with honest-to-goodness sweetness is a health issues. Martin is an intensely ing psychedelia of The Midnight Gospel watchable and rewarding. It has even hard routine to pull off. The show is able lovable figure, her performance filled to an honest-to-goodness Animaniacs started a revival of chess in popular cul- to deftly dive into issues like racial and with charm and brimming with neu- reboot. Things like Lovecraft Country ture, particularly for female players. gender identity while never once feeling rosis to match. As George struggles and The Good Lord Bird examined race Created by: Scott Frank and Allan Scott / heavy-handed. Based on the Scholastic with her own queer identity, the couple through a stylized historical context, Seven episodes series of books by Ann M. Martin, the navigates these issues and more. With while shows like P-Valley and I May De- show features Kristy, Claudia, Stacey, guest stars like Lisa Kudrow and Phil stroy You gave a new generation of cre- Schitt’s Creek // Season Six // CBC/ and Mary Anne as they form the club, Burgers (aka Dr. Brown), the couples’ ators a powerful voice. As winter sets in, Pop TV with each character well-defined and world is wonderfully fleshed out, cre- it’s certainly the time to take a crack at Best Comedy / Best Final Season / unique unto themselves. ating a quietly triumphant work, one some of this year’s best shows. Here are Best-deserved Emmy Sweep Created by: Rachel Shukert // 10 episodes that’s thankfully been green-lit for its a few more of my favorites this year. If you haven’t started watching Schitt’s second and final season. Creek already, breathe easy bébé, be- The Mandalorian // Season Two // Created by: Mae Martin and Joe Hampson The Queen’s Gambit // Miniseries // cause you’re in for a treat. While things Disney+ / Six episodes Netflix get off to an odd start (power through Best Action/Best Star Wars Media Best Limited Series / Best Overall those first three episodes or so, trust Since Empire Nick Warren wasn’t able to watch An achievement in modern prestige me), it’s easily one of the most lovable While Season One of Disney’s The every series in 2020, but all of the above television, the biggest problem of The shows ever made. The Academy agreed, Mandalorian was excellent, Season mentioned are some of his favorites.

December 16, 2020 ErieReader.com | Erie Reader | 19 YEAR IN REVIEW Our Top Albums of 2020 Music that provided relief when it was sorely needed

This year offered an outstanding array of watershed albums like 2014’s Too Bright musical releases, with some helping us escape the harshness of reality and others and 2017’s No Shape, this record is also boldly confronting it. Hadreas’ heaviest yet, with its fuzzy and echoing tones providing a captivating in a single effort, its catchiness only ri- backdrop to his deservedly acclaimed valed by its creativity. Perhaps the sin- lyricism. With cuts harkening back to gle greatest example of a “quarantine ’80s shoegaze and avant-garde baroque album,” it transcends its context to be- pop alike, Hadreas has carved out a come a nearly perfect release altogeth- timeless classic in its 50-minute run- er. — NW ning time — one that goes by like noth- ing, marked by moments of gorgeous 3. The Front Bottoms // In Sickness subtlety and epic grandeur. — NW and In Flames These days, no one does what Front 6. Run the Jewels // RTJ4 Bottoms frontman Brian Sella does If Fetch the Bolt Cutters was the nearly as well. The verbose, unrelenting soundtrack to April, RTJ4 was the lyrics he is known for are back at peak soundtrack to June. Released during form on this, the band’s seventh full- the height of the Black Lives Matter

NICK WARREN length album. While his contemporar- protests, this album coalesced feel- ies like the Mountain Goats and AJJ re- ings of righteous anger and politically lease relatively forgettable efforts, Sella motivated activism for countless lis- By: Aaron Mook and Nick Warren stained fuzz of CEG in favor of an organ- returns to what made things like Talon teners. Producer El-P and emcee Killer ic Americana vibe only helps accentu- of the Hawk so brilliant. Happily learn- Mike dropped their fourth studio album t seems like each December, we arrive ate his characters. Take “Marian,” which ing every word to this release, listeners at just the right time, and it left an in- Iat the end of the year in awe of every- tells not only the story of D’Agostino’s will relish singing along to them with delible impression on its listeners. The thing that’s led us here. Of course, it’s no grandmother’s death by a drunk driver heartfelt clarity (which prompted me to duo’s impeccable output was further secret that this year has been particu- in 1983 but also a clairvoyant who fore- revisit the band’s full catalog with gus- heightened thanks to this nearly-per- larly grueling for a number of reasons sees their own death in 1967. In “Bec- to). Aging punks and younger millenni- fect offering. This 11-track record fea- (one in particular), but all of that time ca,” the song’s titular character pains- als will find solace in Sella’s manic deliv- tured guests like Zack De La Rocha, 2 inside with this music only makes the takingly crafts and hands out faulty ery and unforgettable tracks. — NW Chainz, and Mavis Staples in fiery cuts songs and albums that stuck with us eclipse glasses. It’s hard to say why the of passion that just begged to be blast- even stronger. Consisting not only of most captivating songwriting is often 4. Phoebe Bridgers // Punisher ed from your speakers. — NW the music that felt important and time- the darkest, but as a prisoner pines on For many, Phoebe Bridgers’ Punish- ly but of the records we simply couldn’t closing track “SWIM,” “We’re evil, baby/ er will be the album that defines 2020, put down, we invite our readers to join Sorry, I guess some people have to be.” and it’s not difficult to hear why. The 7. Slow Pulp // Moveys us in celebrating and hopefully discov- — AM 26-year-old singer-songwriter’s second Making a bid for the year’s most un- ering some of the best albums 2020 had affair is gloomy and cinematic, making derstated album, Slow Pulp operates to offer. 2. Charli XCX // How I’m Feeling Now the small stuff (night walks, recurring much like tourmate Alex G. Immediacy On its surface, How I’m Feeling Now dreams, and getting stoned in your bed- may not be one of their strong suits, 1. Empty Country // Empty Country is one of the best modern pop albums room) seem just as dramatic as, well, but crafting a mood that sets the stage In 2019, we lost David Berman. This of the last decade. The latest work of the apocalypse itself. And the apoca- for their listeners is. Moveys, the de- may seem unrelated to Empty Country, Charlotte Emma Aitchison — better lypse does in fact seem to get its own but album from the Wisconsin-based the first album from Cymbals Eat Gui- known as Charli XCX — is easily her moment on the record, on closing track indie-rockers, feels light and heavy tars frontman Joseph D’Agostino under strongest record to date, which is an and song of the year contender “I Know all at once, detailing the simple day the same pseudonym, but in a reveal- impressive feat unto itself, coming just the End.” to day struggle of staying optimistic ing interview from this year, the sing- eight months after 2019’s much-lauded “Over the coast, everyone’s con- and upholding relationships against er-songwriter mentioned that he and Charli. The genesis of this work gives vinced/It’s a government drone or an airy acoustic arrangements that feel Berman were close — so close, in fact, it even more relevance and import as alien spaceship/Either way, we’re not specifically designed to soundtrack a that Berman was one of the first people it was made in collaboration with her alone,” she sings against a grandiose fall spent indoors. Similar to Phoebe to give D’Agostino feedback on the proj- fans over a six-week period during the string and horn section that would Bridgers, Slow Pulp excel at creating ect. The two were even slated to tour pandemic lockdown. Released on May make Sufjan Stevens blush. — AM a rewarding listen with hooks sturdy together until Berman’s passing due 15, Aitchison used only tools at her im- enough to last. — AM to treatment-resistant depression, an mediate disposal to craft everything 5. Perfume Genius // Set My Heart On event that impacted D’Agostino deeply. from the artwork to the tracklisting, uti- Fire Immediately 8. Hum // Inlet Berman would be proud of what Emp- lizing feedback from her fans. What she Beautifully heavy and emotionally Some artists are lauded for their com- ty Country has become, as D’Agostino made was something bursting with pop heart-wrenching, Set My Heart On Fire mitment to change — it’s thrilling, for carries a similar penchant for descrip- hooks and moving synthesizer work, immediately is a triumph of an album example, to hear Radiohead reinvent tive storytelling, often blunt but always her vocals at times used as soft delays — perhaps the best yet from Michael themselves every five years — but Hum filled with distinct verbiage. His choice and powerful vocoded choruses. You’ll Alden Hadreas, the Iowa-born musician is not one of those artists. And just like to distance himself from the synth- be hard-pressed to find more earworms and current Seattle resident. Following their alternative metal peers in Def-

20 | Erie Reader | ErieReader.com December 16, 2020 YEAR IN REVIEW tones, Hum released an album this year band. Inspired by the timelessness of weighing on everyone. Apple’s use of un- that doubled down on precisely every- pop-rockers like Natalie Imbruglia and conventional instrumentation is done thing they do best. This wasn’t just any Avril Lavigne, color theory quickly gets magnificently, as she is able to craft a album either, but the first since their to its lead single (“circle the drain”) and one-of-a-kind masterpiece dealing with 1998 opus, Downward is Heavenward. never ceases to let up, combining Alli- some extremely difficult subjects. It’s Inlet is full of unrelenting riffs (open- son’s distinct writing with a newfound undeniably one of the best albums made ing track “Waves”) and ’90s throwbacks penchant for synthesizers and textured in any year, and will likely be known as (“Step Into You”) — at least until its guitar riffs (“yellow is the color of her the defining musical work associated gorgeous closing tracks, “Folding” and eyes”). — AM with the pandemic. — NW “Shapeshifter.” — AM 10. Fiona Apple // Fetch the Bolt Aaron Mook’s honorable mentions: 9. Soccer Mommy // color theory Cutters King Krule - Man Alive!, Porches - Ricky Released in 2018, Clean, the debut According to most best-of-the-year Music, Mansions - Big Bad, Oneohtrix from singer-songwriter Sophie Allison lists, this album belongs at the top of the Point Never - Magic Oneohtrix Point under the name Soccer Mommy, was list, and not the bottom (correction: It’s Never, Deftones - Ohms widely praised for its youthful energy the bottom of the top). Much has been and personal storytelling. This year, said about Fiona Apple’s album, her fifth Nick Warren’s honorable mentions: Soccer Mommy released a follow-up, studio in 24 years. Fetch the Bolt Cutters Trace Mountains - Lost in the Country, the aptly titled color theory, which deserves just about every bit of praise Sault - Black Is, Rose City Band - Sum- finds the band taking on a much lush- that it has received. It was released in merlong, Tom Misch & Yussef Dayes er and more mature sonic palette that mid-April at the absolutely perfect time, - What Kinda Music, Andy Shauf - The leaves them sounding like, well, a full when the anxiety of self-quarantine was Neon Skyline

Erie’s Best Local Albums of 2020 Three full-length records from local artists

By: Nick Warren el, one that succeeds via ambition and This American Song - People of the Bill$up - Manifest surface-level appeal alike. Stars

Human Animal - False Realities

From the first beautiful warbly notes of Manifest’s opening track, you know you’re in for something special. An ex- You either remember the glory of A perfect encapsulation of what tremely talented producer and engi- Erie’s hardcore scene, or you don’t. makes This American Song unique, neer, Chauncy Bill$up is an Erie native False Realities will work for both types People of the Stars is a pleasure to and Cathedral Prep graduate, returning of people. Made up of some of Erie’s listen to in all of its wonderful eccen- to Erie after a stint in Manhattan. After most esteemed and experienced mu- tricities. This is a brass-infused rock breaking his ankle playing semi-pro sicians, Human Animal simultaneous- band raised on pure punk ethos. In football in 2014, he started experiment- ly pens a love letter to the genre and tracks like “Easy Way Out,” each song ing with audio programs and making a promise-of-intent for the future, in a builds with a drunken swagger leading his own hip-hop beats. Needless to say, powerful thrill ride of an album from to an almost religious cacophony. It’s he’s come a long way. Bill$up released start to finish. Coming in at 10 tracks organized madness, and it’s catchy as Manifest in February of 2020 following in just under a half an hour, the album heck. Featuring a slew of local music January’s Spaceship EP with Kenny flies by, perfectly paced and portioned. scene veterans, the dozen-song album Ba$e (who collaborated with Bill$up on Beginning with the riffs-to-breakdown is pieced together with expertise and “Never Gon Stop”) in January. Joined blitz of “Perfect Person,” you’re treat- impressive production. Guitarist John by local artists like Dommy, Aaron ed to grooves like “The Outlier, Pt. 2,” Johnston’s hazy effect layers team up Rennel, K-Sanz, and more, Bill$up built the gang vocal whoas of “Bastards of with Jeff Phillips’s impassioned deliv- Manifest based on the seven hermetic the North,” and the epic album closer ery. It’s a friendly listen, and one you principles, functioning on a deeper lev- “F.E.A.R.” won’t want to put down.

December 16, 2020 ErieReader.com | Erie Reader | 21 YEAR IN REVIEW Artists Adapt Through Pandemic Local talents reveal how they stayed strong and stayed creative

Erie MC Charles “CEE” Brown spoke with several musical as much as you can during this whole situation.” artists from around the community to discuss the various Major Coins artist Aaron Rennel has been using the ways the pandemic both hampered and nurtured their endeavors. pandemic as an opportunity to grow as a musician. Ren- nel states, “I’ve just been doing a lot of self-work which the stage his home base over the years, commanding au- helped to keep me in a space of productivity and growth diences with an irresistible energy. Though the coronavi- throughout the pandemic.” Another hip hop heavy hitter, rus had put a halt to his show bookings, the charismatic Doc’ Proto, states “I think this is a good time for artists singer used his voice in another light. to challenge their resourcefulness, and to find a way to “I wasn’t a huge fan of playing on live streams because I enhance our creativity.” just couldn’t feel the same energy,” Matty B admits. “So I Optimism has settled in with the music community came up with the idea of putting my personality to use by over the course of these trying times. Acoustic looper doing a live radio show (Distraction Radio Shuffle) featur- and songwriter Justin Moyar had seen his career reach ing all of my friends and fellow local artists.” new heights with touring, but with the virus hampering The digital world has been a benefit for many creatives that momentum, the vocalist has been using the state including DJ and producer DJ Salt, who sees the break of the world to challenge his lyricism for a new project. in his business as both a gift and a curse. “My business “I struggled writing things that had meaning to everyone as being an entertainer was taken away with the snap of at the time,” Moyar confesses. “COVID changed that, and a finger,” the beatmaker expresses. “In the meantime, it new songs like ‘95 Mask,’ ‘If I Were You,’ and ‘It’s Only Pa- DAVID DESIN DAVID was a blessing to get society ready for the next level of per’ emerged.” By: Charles Brown the digital world. Thank God I’ve had Beatstars (a mu- Crown Boyz emcee Jyn 17 decided to stay true to his sic-selling platform) and was able to still make a living goals to further his journey. The rapper advises others t goes without saying that 2020 hasn’t been short on on selling my production on my website and also have to “remain humble. Take every day and every move you Isurprises, with COVID-19’s rude awakening looming people come over to record.” make seriously. Especially because of this pandem- largest. With various shutdowns throughout the country Electronica instrumentalist Adam Holquist has also ic, stay clean to keep the germs away. Write your goals issued by governors all over, businesses large and small turned to the cyber world to keep things in rotation, col- down and check them off.” have struggled to maintain their presence, and the peo- laborating with the Fazed Cookies man himself, Michael It’s quite clear that many of us were caught off guard by ple of America have been in disarray with quarantines, Bennet, for their Social Distancing Variety Hour special. this year and left questioning what our next move might job losses, curfews, and other restrictions to control the Holquist says, “It started off pretty lighthearted and mu- be musically. But as in any situation where we are test- spread of the virus. In the entertainment world, local art- sic-based, and then as living out in the world has gotten ed, we lean on grit and resolve to maneuver around and ists who were actively playing venues and taverns had to more serious, the show has too.” Touching base with conquer the challenges. Kudos to our Erie musicians for reckon with a standstill due to the pandemic. The Erie politicians, community leaders, and more, the duo has pushing through and adjusting to provide us fans with music scene and its fans weren’t quite prepared for such covered various topics to provoke thought and change. their sound, voices, and showmanship that we all miss a crisis, and with live shows virtually eliminated, we’re left Bassist Ralph Reitinger III, who is known for shredding seeing up close and personal. with the question “What now?” with acts such as Eric Brewer and Jeff Fetterman, has As the old saying goes, “The show must go on.” And re- As 2021 approaches, fear and confusion have trans- been looking at the bright side of things while forging gardless of the current events that have been sweeping formed into adaptation and adjustment for artists of all onward. “I mean what’s crazy really is that the pandemic the world by storm, our artists here will not let the cur- genres. Former Dirty Pickles frontman Matty B has made actually has helped me. I’ve been staying busy with gigs tains close just yet.

Erie County Human Relations Commission

The Erie County Human Relations Commission (ECHRC) works to eliminate discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations through identification, consultation, and investigation of complaints.

• The ECHRC provides a system of equal justice for employer–employee, landlord– tenant, business–patron, and lending institution–homebuyer.

ECHRC’s Ordinance makes it unlawful to discriminate against protected classes that include:

• Race; Color; Family Status; Religious Creed; Ancestry; Age; Sex; National Origin; Sexual Orientation; Disability; Gender Identity; Criminal History; and Source of Income.

1001 State Street, Suite 812 • Erie, PA 16501 eriecountygov.org/hrc • [email protected] • 814-451-7021

22 | Erie Reader | ErieReader.com December 16, 2020 CRITICAL CARE/ PULMONOLOGY PHYSICIAN

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24 | Erie Reader | ErieReader.com December 16, 2020 YEAR IN REVIEW Our Podcast Picks of the Year Five of our writers highlight their defining audio offering for 2020

With many of us sidelined or stuck in place, 2020 was a year that saw the podcast medium continue to proliferate. Among the subjects our writers enjoyed hearing about were their favorite murders (Morbid, we know), basketball (The Lowe Post), social media feuds (Blocked Party), and everything else (Dear Hank & John).

spots. On the subject of the latter, most notable is Lowe’s devotion to basketball writers, both at his ESPN home and be- yond. He’s obviously interested in the finished article, but more importantly, he’s not afraid to dig into the unglamor- ous “nuts and bolts” of journalism during these talks. Meanwhile, his recurring mentions of the Toronto fanbase’s “Fox Mulder” dis- position, the “What Up Beck” intro for frequent guest Howard Beck, and the light ribbing he gets from Rachel Nichols keeps the program from getting too ac- ademic. Other highlights include his in- formal polling of front offices, along with his willingness to stop talking about overanalyzed teams (at some point last year, he just couldn’t stomach Philadel- phia 76ers discussions). Always look out for episodes featuring the Kevins (Arnovitz or Pelton), Chris he rise of podcasts as a medium has three lists, hot takes, and the best of the and donated them to The Salvation Herring, Twitter’s favorite sideline com- Tonly gained momentum this year. worst of the Cameo app keep this pod- Army so other people would wear them. mentator Doris Burke, and Bill Simmons. Familiar voices gave us comfort, as we cast moving along at a light-speed pace. Blood and gore aside, Ash and Alaina If you’re looking for Simmons’ fastball, continued to binge on endless hours of The show also gets bonus points for discuss how horrendous these crimes it’s here that the two recapture some audio delights while we stayed home continually producing some of the ab- are, bringing an ounce of justice to the Grantland magic. and collectively got through the year to- solute best live shows via Zoom for fans victims. Through thoughtful, in-depth The 2020-21 season starts shortly; he’s gether. Here are some of the feeds that during quarantine and raising money for research, Morbid raises awareness the best basketball mind you could fol- helped us weather it the best. great causes in the process. — Aaron about the victims, while providing off- low. — Christopher Lantinen Mook beat humor to offset the absolutely ma- Blocked Party cabre nature of the murder stories that My Favorite Murder patreon.com/blockedparty Morbid might easily wrap listeners in a cocoon Exactly Right Media Between the pandemic and the most Morbid Network of paranoia otherwise. It goes without In the past decade, “true crime” as a tumultuous election in recent memory, Nothing takes the mind off a global saying that this podcast isn’t light lis- genre in media has become staggeringly 2020 was a year to be online — or not, pandemic, presidential election, and tening material that you turn on when mainstream. With more shows, movies, depending on your threshold for mental all the other horrors 2020 has thrown cooking dinner or doing your hundredth and podcasts gaining popularity by the punishment. Regardless of which camp our way quite like Morbid: A True Crime self-care coloring book for the week, but day, it is no surprise that one of the best you fall into, Blocked Party is here to Podcast. With tales of the most prolific if you’re looking to escape your own real- podcasts of the year centers on the sub- recap each week in Internet news (and killers, hosts Alaina Urquhart (an au- ity for a couple of hours each week, Mor- ject. A once taboo topic, it is now diffi- specifically, Twitter drama) so you don’t topsy technician) and Ashleigh Kelley bid is the most memorable and intrigu- cult to go about your day without seeing have to experience it firsthand. (a hairstylist) break down the details of ing form of entertainment you could ask true crime in some form or another in Hosted by Vancouver comedian John these cases and the psychology that for. — Chloe Forbes popular media. Launched in early 2016, Cullen and leftist Twitter personality vanquishes any fragment of humanity My Favorite Murder is the perfect exam- Stefan Heck, the podcast bases each from these killers. The Lowe Post ple of society’s obsession with the un- episode upon their guest’s story of be- Similar to shows like Dateline or Crim- ESPN speakable: 34 million monthly listeners ing blocked by someone — whether inal Minds (but not fictional),Morbid Guiding hoops heads through quite of the podcast prove that it isn’t a niche they happen to be famous or an ex’s dad breaks down the stories scene by scene, possibly the strangest time in basketball venture. — and revels in the silliest hurt feelings giving details like how 19-year-old victim history (between the Orlando “bubble,” At a Halloween party in 2015, comedi- produced on the world’s most mindless Jessica Chambers was burned so badly the 8-week chaotic offseason, and the an Karen Kilgariff met and befriended app. Fortunately, for those who couldn’t that the first responders threw up while now-standard superstar movement), television host Georgia Hardstark, and care less about Twitter, the show never testifying at trial, and how John Wayne writer Zach Lowe offers up his brand of the rest, as they say, is history. Bonding stays in one place too long; random top Gacy took the clothes off of his victims eager wisdom and well-curated guest over their mutual interest in the unset-

December 16, 2020 ErieReader.com | Erie Reader | 25 YEAR IN REVIEW tling and disturbing reasons people are With hilarious Hollywood stories and novels (like John’s recent Turtles All the ful analysis, personal experience, and, motivated to commit murders, the two honesty about mental health and social Way Down and the landmark The Fault of course, joking wisecracks. decided they would begin weekly dis- issues, Kilgariff and Hardstark rarely shy In Our Stars and Hank’s most recent A Endearingly sincere, the brotherhood cussions of their “favorite murder.” What away from uncomfortable or embarrass- Beautifully Foolish Endeavor), YouTube of John and Hank finds a compelling began as two new friends chatting about ing situations, instead addressing them channels (Vlogbrothers, Crash Course, balance between John’s realistic cyni- the murders that most interested them head-on. Ending episodes with small mo- SciShow), VidCon, Project for Awe- cism and Hank’s unwavering optimism has grown tenfold in the years since its ments of celebration from their weeks some, studio albums — the list goes on. as they attempt to help their audience inception. Branching out to other forms and fan-submitted hometown stories — So, it came as no surprise to their on- navigate life in the 21st century. Simple of true crime — attempted murders, sur- which began as hometown murders and line community, Nerdfighteria, when in format, the podcast typically runs 40 vivor stories, and missing persons — Kil- has now branched into anything from the Green brothers launched a weekly minutes long before ending with the gariff and Hardstark have created a me- ghost stories to tales of Bigfoot — this advice podcast, Dear Hank and John. latest news from each brother’s pas- dia empire. podcast has a little something for every True to its tagline “a comedy podcast sion, the planet Mars (Hank) and the Each story is bookended by social true crime enthusiast. — Ally Kutz about death,” the two 40-somethings English football club AFC Wimbledon commentary and a few laughs here and offer “dubious” and humorous advice (John). there — mostly at their own expense — Dear Hank and John to questions sent in by listeners. Since After 5 years of recording, the podcast making for a seemingly irreverent com- Complexly and WNYC Studios its 2015 inception, the podcast has ex- remains a reliable, tried-and-true listen. bination; a disclaimer set forth by the Between brothers Hank and John panded to more than basic life-advice. There seems to be no shortage of que- hosts in many episodes and live shows Green, no side of the Internet has been Today, John and Hank answer a wide ries for the Green brothers as they con- states that they are not making fun of left untouched. Together and individu- array of questions, big and small (Could template what Danish people call Dan- the crimes but instead utilizing comedy ally these content creators have writ- Elsa solve climate change? How do you ish pastries and if the North Pole is a to balance the bad with some good. ten, hosted, and produced young adult unfriend someone IRL?), with thought- continent or island. — Hannah Wyman

Top 5 Books of 2020 No shortage of escapes in a year stuck at home

remain intertwined. prose and excellent character devel- Spanning the 1950s to the 1990s, the opment, there’s no guessing as to why timeline woven by Bennett is beautiful- Mexican Gothic was so widely admired ly written and thought-provoking. Ben- this year and is being adapted into a nett takes readers through various “ep- Hulu series. isodes” in the twins’ history, throwing the reader into the throes of late 1960s The Guest List by Lucy Foley racial tensions and how one decision Mystery, Thriller // William Morrow can so drastically affect so many lives. Set on a remote island off the coast of With The Vanishing Half, Bennett adds Ireland, Lucy Foley weaves an intricate a spectacular piece to the understand- web of mysteries in her newest thriller, ing of the inner turmoil of racial identi- The Guest List. While everything on the ty in mid-20th century America. surface is perfect and polished, what lies beneath each character’s façade Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is something more sinister and ugly. Horror, Historical Fiction // Del Rey Events leading up to the wedding of a Inspired by classics like Jane Eyre and rising television star and a magazine Wuthering Heights, Silvia Moreno-Gar- publisher don’t go exactly as planned, cia’s new horror novel, Mexican Gothic, and the past refuses to stay away from By: Ally Kutz The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett was a triumph in the book world this their perfect day. From an old drinking Fiction, Historical Fiction // River- year. The novel takes place in 1950s game gone horribly wrong to a pur- he year 2020 has been…interesting, head Books Mexico and follows 22-year-old Noemí posely ruined bridesmaid’s dress, each Tto say the least. With a pandemic Following the success of 2016’s The as she goes to investigate a mysteri- guest is keeping his or her own secrets bringing our lives to a complete halt Mothers, Brit Bennett’s newest release ous letter she received from her newly that don’t stay secret for long. Told followed by a new normal of masks, so- is one of the most talked-about — and married cousin Catalina. In this letter, from alternating perspectives of the cial distancing, and self-quarantining, celebrated — books of 2020. Set in the Catalina claims to be seeing ghosts bride, the plus-one, the best man, the many were left feeling stuck while stay- fictional small Southern Black commu- and believes that her new husband wedding planner, and the bridesmaid, ing at home. Luckily, 2020 also brought nity of Mallard, Louisiana, The Vanish- and his family are poisoning her. Noemí this thriller is sure to suck you right in with it an astounding number of great ing Half centers on twin sisters Desiree finds herself at High Place, the man- and leave you hanging until the very books to help pass the time in isolation and Stella Vignes, who run away at 16 to sion of the once-wealthy Doyle family end. and escape to new worlds. Some of the pursue a new life. Struck by hardships into which her cousin has married, and With sharp contrasts between the best took us to the Deep South and relating to racial identity, the twins what follows is a horror masterpiece days and the nights, Foley creates Los Angeles; to a small mountain min- choose different paths. Desiree con- that will make any reader’s skin crawl. a mysterious and foreboding world ing town in 1950s Mexico; to a remote tinues to live as a light-skinned Black Moreno-Garcia puts so much emo- that draws you in and refuses to let island off the coast of Ireland; to the woman, while Stella secretly passes for tion and passion into Noemí that it you go. With twists at every bend and mysterious world between living and white. Although they become physical- is difficult not to get swept up in this jaw-dropping revelations throughout, dying; and into the author’s very mind ly separated from each other, their lives Gothic horror. With beautifully written each person begins to realize that their

26 | Erie Reader | ErieReader.com December 16, 2020 YEAR IN REVIEW secrets aren’t only terrible — they can choices in your life. Truly heartbreaking also be deadly. at times while uplifting at others, Haig has created a masterpiece in The Mid- The Midnight Library by Matt Haig night Library. Fantasy // Viking Matt Haig’s newest book is magical I Would Leave Me If I Could. by Halsey in so many ways. The Midnight Library Poetry // Simon & Schuster tells the story of Nora Seed, a 35-year- In this heartbreaking, lyrical, and old music store clerk who feels stuck. stunning collection, singer-songwrit- With parents gone, a brother with er Halsey — born Ashley Frangipane whom she barely speaks, a best friend — weaves together a compelling nar- across the globe, and no love life to rative of love, loss, and dealing with account for, Nora’s situational depres- mental illness. I Would Leave Me If I sion hits a peak and she decides she Could. is a phenomenal debut from no longer wants to live. Finding herself Halsey, shedding light on the singer’s in between life and death at the Mid- tumultuous relationships (“Stockholm night Library, Nora is given the chance Syndrome Pt.1,” “Lighthouse”); her to live all the lives she could’ve had if childhood (“I Am Angry Because of My she’d made different choices. But as Father,” “The Painter”); and her strug- she cycles through these fantastical gles with bipolar disorder (“Bad Day: alternate realities, she begins to un- I,” “I Wish That I Were Manic All The derstand what makes life worth living Time”). Addressing other important in the first place. themes and events in her life — bisex- Haig’s fantastic writing brings to life uality, sexual assault, and much more the magical place that is the Midnight — Halsey bares her soul on the page Library, and with it, Nora and her life for all to read. — well, lives. His own experience with Writing with passion and conviction, depression translates beautifully onto Halsey is truly one of the strongest the page, illustrating for readers the and most compelling voices of her despair in wishing you had made other generation.

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[left] A then and now comparison tail ventures until 1983 when it of the storefront windows of the was purchased by Duane Wal- shop at 5546 Peach St. Very little lin and converted into his vision has changed, architecturally and design-wise, about the store and dream: a used book store since it was built in 1920. [bottom and comic book store, which it right] Long time employee, Bob remains to this day. Dobiesz (right) works the cash Wallin was a voracious reader. register, while Assistant Manager, Lisa Sciamanda, bags and boards He read any chance he could, comic books in the Gaming loved books, and collected section. many over the years. Rather than retire in the traditional sense, Wallin decided to spend wore on. his golden years realizing a As far as I can tell, the Biebel dream of his: to turn his passion family, their descendants, and into his work, and start a used their extended family owned bookstore. When the storefront the building up until the 1970s. at 5546 Peach St. went up for It started by selling general auction, Duane, his wife Mary wares, as described in Nelson’s Ann, and his son Jim toured the Biographical Dictionary and building and knew immediate- Reference Book of Erie Coun- ly that this was the place. The ty, PA: “He (Biebel) has enjoyed building looked and felt like it the liberal patronage which he was meant to be a bookstore, seeks to deserve by carrying all and the family spent the next the merchandise embraced in couple of years turning Duane’s a general store: groceries, pro- dream into a reality. Duane was visions, flour, feed, fertilizers, the dreamer, Mary Ann the re- boots and shoes, glassware, alist, and Jim was the muscle, farming tools, hats, caps and hauling books all around town notions.” The store remained a and building the bookshelves general and grocery store until that are still in use today. it was sold outside the Biebel The building has remained ERIN PHILLIPS / CONTRIBUTED ERIN PHILLIPS family in the early 1970s. During largely unchanged since it was this time, the business changed built in 1920. The Wallins were By: Erin Phillips Books Galore sells used books, Mary, began the first commer- pretty regularly and enjoyed charmed by the woodwork and comic books, and games and cial business on what is today time as a photography studio, have kept it all intact over the hese days, when you take has been a part of the fabric of upper Peach Street: a hotel and a dance studio, and multiple re- years, including the original a trip to upper Peach upper Peach Street for nearly tavern called the Walnut Creek TStreet, it can be hard to 40 years, although the building Hotel on the spot that is now imagine how this area of our has been there much longer. the corner of Biebel Avenue town looked 100 years ago. Built in 1920 by the pioneering and Peach Street. At that time, Passing by car dealerships, spirit of one family, its survival the area had a smattering of chain restaurants, and massive is due to the legacy of the few residents and the land where superstores, it feels impos- families that have worked to the Millcreek Mall now sits sible that this area was once make it what it is today. was farmland, as far as the eye farmland and wilderness, with The history of this area is inex- could see. This tavern would horses and buggies trudging tricably tied to the Biebel fam- have been a popular way sta- through unpaved, sparsely ily. Daniel and Charlotte Biebel tion and watering hole for trav- populated dirt roads. There immigrated to Erie County from elers coming into the city from is, however, one surviving rel- Germany in the 1830s. Daniel further south in the county or ic from those simpler times. originally worked as a brick- state. They achieved great suc- Sandwiched between the cor- layer and was described as cess, and it is upon that suc- porate sprawl of the Millcreek “hale and hearty,” as he would cess that Mary and George’s Mall and the expanding reach prove to be when he eventual- two sons, William and Edward, of LECOM developments, sits ly purchased large amounts of began multiple business ven- the unassuming old storefront acreage in the Kearsarge area, tures and eventually built the of Books Galore (five-time Best started a timbering business, storefront at 5546 Peach St. in of Erie Winner for Best Com- and built log cabins on site to 1920 to be a general store for ics and Collectibles Shop and live in while working. Their son, the area that was becoming Best Independent Bookstore). George Biebel, and his wife, more populated as the century ERIN PHILLIPS

28 | Erie Reader | ErieReader.com December 16, 2020 FEATURE

accessibility, and close quar- of the employees’ stay here is when they’re back in Erie,” re- ters are offset by the historic pretty unique.” And their ded- flects Dobiesz. charm of the building. ication to the business has It is this legacy, this feeling of Wallin started the business inspired those employees run- familiarity, comfort, and ritual when the Millcreek Mall was be- ning the store now to stay on that has contributed to this tiny ing developed, and upper Peach and do their best to help this bookstore’s ability to survive Street and the Kearsarge area small business succeed. Cur- the encroachment of big-box slowly started to morph into the rent manager Cole Schenley retailers, online sales jugger- bustling commercial district reflects: “When I was a kid, I nauts, as well as the pandemic. we know today. It was at this came here. I started shopping One can’t help but worry about time that the Wallin Family and here when I was like 10 years a small business and its ability Books Galore became linked old. This place means so much to survive in the economic and to the Phillips family (which to me. Marge, Carol, Bob, every- public health crisis we’re cur- also happens to be my family). one was always really kind to rently in, but Wallin feels confi- When I first met my husband, me all the years I shopped here. dent: “I’ll put it to you straight, he was working at Books Galore And then when I got this job, I I think that the bookstore will along with his brother Doug, his felt this responsibility to keep it be fine. We have to weather mother Marge, and his Aunt going, mainly for them.” the current pandemic storm, Carol. Most people who have It is not just the employees but our people are committed shopped at Books Galore over who keep coming back year af- enough to jump in and fight for the years think of this family ter year; most of the customers the bookstore. And our custom- as the personality of the store. of Books Galore are regulars ers are so loyal, this place gives Jim Wallin (who took over own- and make visiting the shop a them a sense of comfort and a ership of Books Galore, as well ritual of sorts. Comic books are place to belong. It’s an import- ERIN PHILLIPS ERIN PHILLIPS as his other property, the King’s serialized and new issues come ant part of their upbringing, it’s floors, trim, windows, doors and With used books piled into every Rook Club, when his father, out weekly or monthly, so most their hobby and their life. It’s go- hardware, pocket doors, and dark and dusty corner, Books Duane, passed in 2001) reflects, comic book customers are used ing to be here as long as every- Galore is the stuff of used book glass doorknobs set in Art Deco “It really wouldn’t have come to- to coming into the store every body who loves it wants it to be store dreams. style plate sets. As you make gether like it has or gone on as week to pick up their newly here and supports it.” The leg- your way up the creaky wooden long as it has without the Phil- issued comics. Then those re- acy of the century-old shop on staircase, the second floor is the tail setting in general, but most lips family.” Marge and Doug peat customers bring their chil- Peach Street, the legacy of the stuff of used bookstore dreams: certainly unique for the upper Phillips both worked at the dren with them who start up a Biebel, Wallin, and Phillips fam- books are piled up in every nook Peach Street area, where near- bookstore from around 1985 weekly habit of buying comics, ilies, and the legacy of multiple and cranny, closet, and alcove. ly every building is either new and stayed up until Marge’s re- and so on and so on. “Legacy is generations of customers will This area of the store used to or has been modernized over tirement in 2018. That’s 33 years a good word for it. I’ve seen kids hopefully continue on for many be rental apartments and still the years. And while this anti- of dedication within one family come in and then they bring the more years to come. has a vintage bathroom (with quation gives the bookstore its to a retail business. Another next generation and then even Erin Phillips runs the Instagram @ unmodified sink, tub, and tile) character, it also provides its long time employee, Bob Do- their grandkids. People who olderieonfoot, an in-depth look at and original kitchen cabinets in share of frustrations, as most biesz, who has worked at the came in here when they were local architecture “by foot, stroller, a back storage area. This level old buildings do. But issues bookstore since 1990, points kids and have since moved out papoose, bike, and occasionally of preservation is unique in a re- such as lack of storage space, out “the dedication and length of town always come in to visit minivan.”

TOMMY IN TOON — BY TOMMY LINK

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30 | Erie Reader | ErieReader.com December 16, 2020 CROSSWORD

Across 55. His Twitter handle is @ 26. Oscar ____ hot dogs 1. Scratchy voice Pontifex 27. USA part: Abbr. 5. Archipelago part 56. Hit reality competition 28. 1970s-’80s sketch show 10. Cookie container series in which you can’t on which John Candy and 13. Pays (up) see the person performing Eugene Levy got their 15. Agitates ... and this puzzle’s theme starts 16. Palindromic brand in 64. De-squeak 31. Cancún kitchen the kitchen 65. Alpha’s opposite 32. Skybox locales 17. Comment from some- 66. Easily fooled 33. Pursue again, as an Answers to last puzzle one with their mouth 67. Washington, D.C. legal- elected position covered? ized it in 2014 35. Director Kurosawa 20. Skye of “Say Anything 68. First or economy 36. Opposite of NNW ...” 69. Secluded valley 39. Subj. for Galileo 21. “Bill & ____ Excellent 40. One going on foot? Adventure” Down 41. Unit in a shopping cart 22. Looking good when 1. One making a ewe turn? 47. Snoozes covering one’s face? 2. “Pick a card, ____ card” 48. Got room service, say 29. Goes on a second date 3. Mo. town 49. Hoover ____ with 4. Louvre pyramid design- 50. Some digital videos, 30. “Mad Men” channel er I.M. ____ briefly 31. “Wheels” 5. Neighbor of a Pakistani 51. Musical endings 34. “I could ____ horse!” 6. Philosopher Kierkeg- 52. “Enough!” 35. So far aard 53. Answer to the old 37. Mine cart contents 7. Falsehood riddle “What’s round on 38. Offerings provided 8. Tree in many street the ends and high in the by those favoring facial names middle?” coverings? 9. Wanders around JFK? 54. Neighbor of a pec 42. ____ talk 10. Laughing matter 57. Bronx-born congress- 43. More introverted 11. Fired woman, familiarly 44. Fork prong 12. Towel holders 58. T-shirt choices, briefly 45. NFL rushing units 14. Vengeful feeling 59. Mauna ____ (Hawaii’s 46. The Blue Jays, on 18. Beans high in protein tallest mountain) scoreboards 19. Investor’s purchase: 60. Unlikely race favorite 47. Dance done to the Abbr. 61. Dodgers legend 2015 hit “Watch Me” 22. Like J.Crew clothing Hodges 49. The perfect facial cov- 23. Brought up 62. Expectant time ering for your feline? 24. Prevents, by law 63. Kylo ____, “Star Wars” 52. Club ____ 25. Jazz or Blues antagonist

December 16, 2020 ErieReader.com | Erie Reader | 31