PETER LEO may be familiar to seasoned readers of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette as a long-time humor columnist. Although he retired in 2007, he still writes an occasional column. He has taught journalism at the University of Pittsburgh and given writing seminars at Pitt and around the country, drawing on his days as the Post-Gazette’s writing coach.

Leo grew up in Teaneck, N.J., where he was a good-field, no-hit shortstop and probably the only Irish-Italian Catholic on the B’nai B’rith Little League team. He attended a Jesuit high school in Manhattan and graduated from the University of Toronto in philosophy. Having no marketable skill, he turned to journalism. Luckily, newspaper jobs were plentiful in those days. After working in North Carolina and Delaware, he landed a job at the Post-Gazette in 1978. This led to a long and rewarding career. More important, it gave him the gift of Pittsburgh, although he’s aware that his credentials as a real Pittsburgher are suspect because he’s lived here for only 33 years.

Leo launched his column in 1981. A well-aged collection of his work, “The Best of Peter Leo,” is available on some used book Web sites. He lives with his wife, Sylvia, a fiber artist, in Squirrel Hill. The kids left long ago -- Steven to New York, Jane to Boston. An unabashed optimist about Pittsburgh, Leo is confident the Pirates will have a winning season before the century is out.