Michael Vitez won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize in Journalism for a series of stories on end-of- life care. He's been at The Inquirer since 1985, and there is nothing he loves more than a good human-interest story. He is married to a wonderful woman and has three kids.

His column appears Thursdays and Sundays in City & Region. He can be reached at 215-854-5639 or mvitez@phillynews.com.

Michael Vitez | Love blooms anew, in cowboy boots
Patricia was a month shy of 14, young and beautiful, and standing on the corner at Falcone's Luncheonette when Dave drove up in his black Pontiac that Friday night in May 1960.
( By Michael Vitez, Inquirer Columnist, 10/17/2002 09:36 AM EDT)

Michael Vitez | Canny retiree's work lets charity keep tabs on costs
Joe Gavaghan has a tolerant wife. She lets him store the aluminum tabs from soda and beer cans in her dining room - at least until he's collected a few hundred thousand.
( By Michael Vitez, Inquirer Columnist, 10/06/2002 04:34 PM EDT)

Michael Vitez | They hope film about Bosnia will bring others together, too
Four young women began as strangers. A film has made them best friends. Picture Me an Enemy, premiering tonight at International House, took six years to make. Two women filmed it; the other two were subjects.
( By Michael Vitez, Inquirer Columnist, 10/03/2002 12:17 PM EDT)

Michael Vitez | A bug-boxing pastime that's really cricket
Xiao-Fu Zhou is a violin soloist who will play Beethoven at the Kimmel Center in January. This time of year, however, he sleeps with a different sort of music in his head: chirping crickets.
( By Michael Vitez, Inquirer Columnist, 09/29/2002 01:37 PM EDT)

Michael Vitez | Teaching literature's classics, she created more than a class
In 1984, a former literature professor agreed to teach a small class to other retirees in Radnor. Eighteen years later - after 60 works of great literature, field trips, dinner parties, seders, and funerals - they are still together, and the Tuesday morning class at the Creutzburg Center for Adult Education has become so important that they plan their lives around it.
( By Michael Vitez, Inquirer Columnist, 09/26/2002 12:13 PM EDT)

Michael Vitez | Not too slow, but steady, wins at the Golden Games
Mona was supposed to be dead. But there she was on the starting line. Lipstick. Eyeliner. Sneakers tied tight. Her walker gripped firmly in front of her, ready for racing: Five-inch wheels on the front legs, tennis balls on the back - not for speed, but to avoid scuffing the gym floor.
( By Michael Vitez, Inquirer Columnist, 09/22/2002 12:14 PM EDT)

City cancels Tailgate Russ' dream party
Tailgate Russ had a dream - to throw Philadelphia's largest tailgate party and to do it before Sunday's Eagles game against Dallas.
( By Michael Vitez, Inquirer Columnist, 09/19/2002 12:15 PM EDT)

Michael Vitez | Pop quiz: Carbonated beverage names
As a boy growing up in Virginia, I said "Coke" as a generic term for all soft drinks. "Do you want a Coke?" "Yes." "What kind?" "Get me a 7-Up."
( By Michael Vitez, Inquirer Columnist, 09/16/2002 02:02 PM EDT)

Michael Vitez | At road's end
After nearly seven weeks on the road, meandering my way across America, I arrived on the beach in Santa Monica, Calif. - and went for my first-ever swim in the Pacific Ocean.
( By Michael Vitez, Inquirer Columnist, 08/15/2002 10:17 AM EDT)

Michael Vitez | Brothers seek their break playing Hollywood's games
Mike and Rick Julian were popular jocks back at Cherry Hill High School East in the 1970s, when they were known as Mike and Rick Beurer. Now they live in L.A., have new names, and are trying to make it big.
( By Michael Vitez, Inquirer Columnist, 08/11/2002 12:55 PM EDT)

Michael Vitez | Bringing up baby redwoods
Charles and Vanna Rae Bello have lived for 34 years near here on 400 acres of redwood forest in northern California, a remote paradise they have named Redwood Forest Ranch.
( By Michael Vitez, Inquirer Columnist, 08/08/2002 09:11 AM EDT)

Michael Vitez | In the know about fancy joe
Danica Copus was working at the drive-through espresso window when a guy pulled up and asked her out... for a cup of coffee! The offer was kind of cheesy - after all, nobody out here drinks ordinary coffee anymore, and couldn't he at least have asked her to dinner? - but still, she accepted. After all, he was a regular (double tall latte).
( By Michael Vitez, Inquirer Columnist, 08/04/2002 09:28 AM EDT)

Michael Vitez | Trailing the blazes
Jonathan Ugulano knows he's in Washington, but he doesn't even know the name of the 34,000-acre wildfire he's fighting. "I know we're near Lake Chelan," he said. "And I know it's steep."
( By Michael Vitez, Inquirer Columnist, 08/01/2002 09:11 AM EDT)

Michael Vitez | He's made an imprint on life
Nick DeCarlo has been to Philadelphia. For him, once was enough. His job was to climb the 250-foot radio tower atop the PSFS building and install cables so that other people could climb it safely.
( By Michael Vitez, Inquirer Columnist, 07/28/2002 01:54 PM EDT)