An icon in the Pittsburgh blogging world decided to silence her keyboard yesterday. PittGirl, the anonymous author of the wildly popular, The Burgh Blog, closed up shop — a sudden, sad ending for her many readers.
I was a Burgh-Blog-come-lately. It was around for 3 years, but I only started reading it the past year. It took me a while to get into — it was a little crude, had a lot of inside jokes you had to be a regular to understand, and a lot about city politics, which concern me not at all. But I grew to really enjoy it — the writing, the humor, the thoughtful, sometimes poignant posts, and the underlying love of the ‘Burgh that so many of us share. It was as part of my day as my morning tea or coffee — me and thousands upon thousands of others.
In fact, the most hits I’ve ever had on this blog are the few times I commented on a post or actually had a mention (and link) from The Burgh Blog about one of my posts — pretty powerful stuff. And all from a 34-year-old anonymous woman, writing about life in Pittsburgh.
Writer to writer, I’ll miss her. She had what we all wish for — a unique voice, a loyal following, and a topic she loved. Maybe now, as she has time to concentrate on other pursuits and other kinds of writing, she’ll even get that other thing we writers all hope for…a paycheck.
The only gift is a portion of thyself.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Writing by Ear 