A.J. Caliendo, who was a fixture in Pittsburgh community theatre, passed away on January 24 after a decades-long battle with heart disease. He is survived by his wife, Elisabeth (“Lis”) Caliendo (Bethel Park); his brother, James (Plum) and sister-in-law Bonnie; his eldest son, Stephen and his wife Jill (Chicago, IL); his youngest son, Scott (“Sonny”) (Mormon Lake, AZ); four grandchildren (Marley, Amelia, Gianni and Stella); and scores of adoring cousins, nieces, and nephews, including those from his former marriage to Mary Williams. He was preceded in death by his mother and father, as well as his older sister, Judith, who passed away at the age of 3.

A graduate of Penn Hills High School, A.J.—known alternately as “Al,” “Alex” and “Alec”—married Mary Elizabeth (Beth) Iachini in 1970; they divorced in 1997. He married his beloved wife, Elisabeth Emmet in 2003.

After a career in logistics and management, A.J. began to pursue his true passion—writing—in 1996, lending his intelligent perspective and sometimes humorous approach to hundreds of features, news stories, community and regional theater reviews, and previews for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Pittsburgh City Paper, Reuters, and multiple community magazines and newspapers in the South Hills. In 1997 he was awarded a Golden Quill by the PA Press Club for his article, “Assisting Suicide.” He originated the Post-Gazette’s high school musical previews and published the website for the region’s High School musicals. He was honored to have been invited to serve as a Gene Kelly Award judge.

In 1998, the miniseries The Temptations filmed in Pittsburgh, and he got his dream assignment, to interview Otis Williams, the last Temptation. With encyclopedic knowledge of the music genre he called “the elusive state of heart and mind known as soul,” A.J. could hold his own with anyone on the subject. Besides Motown and his family, Caliendo’s other true love was theatre. He took a playwriting class in 1999 and soon found himself cast in a play at the Red Barn Theatre as – surprise! – a volatile Italian. His debut lasted just one performance before it was cut short by an unfortunate cardiac incident. (His youngest son, Sonny, said, “You’re going to write something funny about this, aren’t you, Dad?” and he did, in a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette piece titled “Tunnel Traffic.” Confused as to why he hadn’t seen the white tunnel often reported by survivors of near-death experiences, all became clear when a loved one explained, that was only for people going to Heaven. Ah.)

He also wrote features and stories, and he did the “grunt work” of covering municipal meetings for the various boroughs, townships and municipalities in the South Hills. Once again, he turned to humor writing, channeling his observations of petty bureaucracy and the citizenry it served into a one-act play entitled This Meeting will Now Come to Disorder, performed at Pittsburgh’s New Works Festival in 2010.

He was a contributor to community magazines and newspapers in the South Hills, and although mostly retired of late, had recently begun a book and a screenplay.

A.J. was very proud of his wife, his children and grandchildren, and they were proud of and adored him. He will be missed dearly by extended family and a wide network of friends and acquaintances.

In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory to No Kid Hungry, South Hills Interfaith Ministries (SHIM), or the Southern Poverty Law Center are appreciated. 

A celebration of life will be held in mid-March, with information forthcoming on the website. 

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