Sally Kalson has been on the staff of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette since 1984. She writes a weekly column for the Sunday Op-Ed page, and her reporting about family issues, law, personalities, politics and the arts has received numerous honors from journalism and public interest groups, including the International Reading Association, the Sunday Magazine Editors Association, the PA Bar Association and PA Common Cause She was also named best TV commentator in the state by the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters.

As a columnist she turns a wry eye on modern American politics, trends and social mores. As a reporter, she has covered a wide variety of subjects, from judicial arrogance in the courtrooms of Allegheny County to life in the war zones of Nicaragua and child care in America.

She has taught journalism at Catham College, and in the fall of 2002, sailed around the globe with Semester at Sea as a writing professor.

Ms. Kalson is a founder of "Off the Record," an annual musical satire about local people and events sponsored by The Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, of which she is an officer of long standing. She writes several numbers for every show, helping to raise thousands of dollars for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. She was also a member of a three-woman singing group, the Raisinettes, who performed 1960s girl-group songs at local clubs, parties and fund-raising events until a few years ago.

A graduate of Mt. Lebanon High School and the University of Pittsburgh, she has written for the New York Times Magazine and Woman's Day and worked as a writer

editor at two glossy magazines, Pennsylvania Illustrated in Harrisburg and Pittsburgher Magazine. Her first journalism job was with the Jewish Chronicle of Pittsburgh. She lives in Squirrel Hill with her husband, an attorney. Their daughter, a graduate of the Pittsburgh Public Schools, is a college junior.