There's a delightful story in today's Inquirer where they visit the remote Poconos HQ of HIGHLIGHTS Magazine, still going strong after 80 years.
01.03.2026 15:59
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There's a delightful story in today's Inquirer where they visit the remote Poconos HQ of HIGHLIGHTS Magazine, still going strong after 80 years.
I still take the R5.
ICYMI: A #Philly fairy tale (complete with happy ending) to start your week off right.
Although I've never heard of this person I thought, “I’m always the best-dressed woman at the Acme,” she says., is the most South Philly thing ever I've come across this year.
Goes without saying (but I’ll say anyway) she looked absolutely regal. Jewels, opera coat, lions‘ mane of golden hair, perfect nails.
Fantastic old-school feature-writing chops here
She is warm and funny with crystal clear, perfectly-timed anecdotes about her glamorous Philly life. And the way people responded to her!
Since then, I've felt real pressure to ensure our article captures even a little of what it’s like to be with Rachel.
Did we? www.inquirer.com/life/a/harlo...
Rachel in 1988 at the opening of her club Harlow's in the Bourse.
And of course, there is the woman, the myth, the icon herself, Rachel Billebault. I got to know Rachel first through @tomandlorenzo.bsky.social's vivid and detailed writing, and then through many phone calls, but it wasn't until we met in person that I fully appreciated her aura and energy.
A vintage newspaper clipping: "A soft-spoken little man cornered owner Stanley (Bo) Rosenbleeth in Harlow's the other night and asked her for a "Harlow pin". This is a little piece of jewelry made by Jonathan Stampler for Harlow, hostess at the Bank st. discotheque. Rosenbleeth told the man he gives the pins only to "special customers and friends." "I'm a friend of Harlow's," the man said. "Oh yeah? What's your name?" "Truman Capote," said the man.
Throughout the editing process, I would often come across an detail and think "This is wild. But is it true? How could I even fact check this?" And then there would be a Daily News clipping from 1972 that said exactly that.
An archive photo of Harlow's club at Bank and Chestnut street in the 1970s.
As they say in the article, Harlow was a star "at a time when Philadelphia had enough daily and weekly newspapers to support over a dozen full-time columnists, documenting the movements and drama of the city’s celebrity circuit."
Do you love vintage #philly history? You'll love this story.
Headlines and glamorous photos from Philadelphia papers in the 1970s. "For Harlow, Life is a Cheerful Drag". "Harlow 'couldn't be happier' at Sex Change",
Most of the story, they told me, was in plain sight all along. It lived in the pages of our paper - deep in the archives, where the woman known simply as Harlow was covered incessantly in the 1970s.
Harlow in a velvet and chiffon Oscar de la Renta dress with a large flower around her neck.
@tomandlorenzo.bsky.social first told me about Harlow five years ago, in sort of a "wouldn't it be cool to track her down" way, but she remained elusive.
When I reconnected with them this year to see if we could revisit the idea, they were already deep into working with Rachel on her memoirs.
Philadelphia and the world, may I have your attention?
@tomandlorenzo.bsky.social's massive, detailed, fascinating profile of the Philly icon that is Harlow published this morning in the @inquirer.com's brand-new weekend edition:
www.inquirer.com/life/a/harlo...
Excited and honored to join this cohort of journalists!
Some personal news! I am in the Epstein emails (sort of)!!!
In February 2019, Epstein emailed a column that I wrote about him, Trump and Trump's pal Robert Kraft to his "journalist" friend Michael Wolff. Why would he do this? I have no earthly idea. Should I be flattered?
Lots of detail and context about what in the heck is going on at the art museum right now: www.inquirer.com/arts/philade...
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(For the record, I did not edit this piece.)
One of the perils of the new media landscape is bosses thinking "The only way to Save Media is to double down on content I personally like and want to do anyway" but I am built different and know that readers yearn for in-depth media criticism about local magazines from @zoegberg.bsky.social.
It’s not your imagination. @zoegberg.bsky.social on why it seems like everyone On Here is rooting for the Phils tonight.
www.inquirer.com/life/interne...
Not only is Calder Gardens like nothing else on the Parkway - it’s like nothing else anywhere. This is a great building, as my review explains. To celebrate, a gift link: share.inquirer.com/1K33B0
I honestly don’t have enough luminous, magical spirit caves in my life.
Times are tough; find some rum hams. www.inquirer.com/entertainmen...
“It’s a classic story: Folks come to America looking for a better life,” said Frank Watson, a pastor and archivist.
“The sad reality is these guys didn’t have a chance, pigeon-holed and blamed for a disease that they didn’t bring.”
I talked to the alleged Delco Pooper this morning, which is, yet again, another sentence I never expected to write this week.
Also, a "Delco Deucer" sandwich has been created by Wolf's Superior Sandwiches in Aston because Delco.
www.inquirer.com/news/christi...
