PGHwrites: Maxwell King’s “Fire in the Night Sky” with Anne Maderasz

About this event

Photo Courtesy: Maxwell King

Aaron Harry Gorson painted powerful and dramatic night scenes of Pittsburgh’s steel mills in the early 1900s. A pioneer industrial landscape artist, Gorson was partial to the nighttime beauty of industrial Pittsburgh and the magic of the glowing streams of molten iron and steel flowing from the blast furnaces and open hearths and their effects on river waters and night skies. Maxwell King ’s Fire in the Night Sky is a celebration of Gorson’s life work and the first complete biography of the artist. Author Maxwell Perkins King sets thirty-nine Gorson paintings within the epic story of place and time: the development of the Pittsburgh steel industry and how the industrial and technological achievements of that era changed Pittsburgh and the world.

Join Maxwell King and Anne Maderasz at Alphabet City to discuss his book, Pittsburgh’s steel history, Gorson’s art, and Heinz History Center exhibit that opened on November 14, 2026.

About the Author:

Maxwell King is the author of Fire in the Night Sky: The Steel Mill Paintings of Aaron Gorson (Lyons Press, 2026), as well as the New York Times bestseller The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers (Abrams Books, 2018), and American Workman: The Life and Art of John Kane (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2022). He is the former editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer and president of The Heinz Endowments and the Pittsburgh Foundation.

About the Moderator:

Anne has spent more than 30 years developing award-winning exhibitions, publications, and programs that share the story of Western Pennsylvania’s impact on American history. An expert on industrial history, especially glass, she also created and manages the Sports Museum at the Heinz History Center. Anne has curated dozens of exhibitions on subjects as varied as the America flag, Pop Art, the Apollo moon landing, and football history and loves the hunt for objects and information that expands our understanding of the past. A teacher and storyteller Anne has built partnerships with local organizations such as the Veterans Breakfast Club, the WPIAL, and the Western Pennsylvania Disability History and Action Consortium, to ensure that the History Center reflects a rich and inclusive story of the people of our community. A graduate of Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, Anne completed the coursework for her PhD. at the University of Pennsylvania. She has two grown children and a badly behaved collie and enjoys gardening, baking, reading mystery books, and watching sports in her free time. A transplanted Easterner, Anne takes pride in adding to the stories about what makes Pittsburgh special.

About Your Visit:

The in-house restaurant, Alfabeto , is open for dinner from 5 to 10 p.m. Please visit OpenTable or call 412-435-1111 to make a reservation.

There will be a complimentary reception following the program for all attendees.

From City of Asylum